
kJ- L.,i\£ 



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BOSTON SCHOOL SUPPLY CO. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Shelf -W.y-lg 

UNITED STATES OF AMEEICA. 



pj^jlijts' !ftsinri:«I !|t,8«bsra. 



MIDDLE ENGLAND 



FROM 






■-\ 



THE ACCESSION OF HENRY IL TO 
THE DEATLI OF ELIZABETH. 



HISTORICAL READER No. III. 




^< 




WITH 86 MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



'§OBton, pass.: 

BOSTON SCHOOL SUPPLY COMPA^sTY, 

15 BROMFIELD STREET. 




THE LIBRARY 
O^ RESs! 






.f^HlNGrONlj 



{Copyright 1884 by the Boston School Supply Co., Boston, Mass.] 




o^sr" 



PREFACE. 




vN ' Middle England ' the aim has been to narrate 
accurately a part of the Biography of the people 
of England. Special attention has been given 
to the delineation of the varieties of character pre- 
sented by the leading men of the successive genera- 
tions ; and it is hoped that the gallery of historical 
portraits sketched!^ in the text will be found not unworthy 
of th6 beautiful series of vignettes with which the artist has 
adorned the pages. 

The earlier lessons are designed to lay carefully the foun- 
dations of the later history ; here, the qualities sought after 
have been accuracy and fulness. In the middle chapters 
advantage has been taken of the unequalled series of historical 
plays bequeathed to the nation by its greatest Dramatist ; and 
any increase of vitality and vigour there displayed is due solely 
to the poet who could, without boasting, say — 

" Graves, at my command, 
Have waked their sleepers ; oped, and let them forth, 
By my so potent art." 

As the aspects of national life became more manifold, it was 
more and more necessary to concentrate attention upon the 

a 



vi PKEFACE. 

greater movements of the periods ; and thus, naturally, the 
' selection of the significant ' came to be the first duty of the 
narrator. 

It has never been forgotten that the volume was to be 
used as a Readiiig-hook. Accordingly, the lessons have been 
prepared with special attention to the elocutionary capabili- 
ties of the successive subjects ; and as it was felt to be 
unwise to load the text with details, the notes have been 
rendered a storehouse of carefully-selected information. In 
the first place, the writer has sought to present the facts of 
our country's history in logical sequence, so as to appeal to the 
reasoning faculties of the pupils, and thus promote intelligent 
reading. In the second place, he has striven to paint in 
vivid colours the intensely human aspects of the national 
life, and thus to call into activity that emotional sympathy 
which is the essential requisite of expressive elocution. 




CONTENTS. 



I.— THE PLANTAGENETS. 

Hexky II.— the Man and the Era 

The First Seven Years of Henry's Reign . . 

The Crown and the Church . . 

Henry's Last Triumph and Fall 

A Feudal Knight upon the Throne • 

The Third Crusade 

The Crusader's Return 

Accession op John and Loss of Normandy . . 

K/ifG Joiix TEMPTiXG Hubert to Kill Artuur. 

John Humiliated 

Dangers to National Liberty 

Defence of the Charter— the Good Sir Simon 

Edward I., the Greatest op the Plantagenets 

The Great Lawgiver . . 

How Wales was United to England 

The Scottish War op Independence 

Edward II. — Renewal of the Struggle between the Ba 

# CPvOWN 

A King Deposed from the Throne . . 

Edward III.— the Age of Chivalry . . 

Beginning of the Hundred Years' War with France 

Crecy and Calais 

The Pestilence— Renewal of Hostilities . . 

Parliament and People 

The Son of the Black Prince on the Throne 

A Period op Revolution 

Entrance ofBolingbrooke and the Captive Riceard int 



RONS AND THE 



London 



PAGE 
9 
IS 
i8 

24 
29 

33 
39 
44 



II.— LANCASTER AND YORK. 



The Unquiet Time of Henry IV. 

Renewal of the Hundred Years' War with France 

End op the Hundred Years' War with France .. 

The War of the Roses 

The Eve of Bosworth . . 

William Caxton the Printer 



III.— THE TUDOR DYNASTY. 



A Period of Personal Rule . . 

The First op the Tudors 

The Rival Roses Intertwined 

The Last of the Great Ecclesiastical Statesmen 

The Divorce op Queen Catherine . . 

A Reign of Terror 

Edward AND Mary 

Two Queens 

The Great Elizabeth 

Policy op Elizabeth . . 

The Armada 

The Elizabethan Period 



TABLES, MAPS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Caxton and Edward IV. 



PAGE 
9 
9 



A Norman Castle 

Henry II., from Fontevrault . . 
Table show.ng Descent of Henrif II. 
Map of the Dominions of Henru II. . . 13 
Thomas a Becket. (The portrait 
from a MSS. in the British 
Museum. The mitre from the 
original, preserved in the Cathe- 
dral of Sens, in France) . . . . 18 

Murder of Becket 23 

Map of Ireland in the reign of Henry II. 25 
Richard I., from his tomb at Fonte- 
vrault 29 

Crusaders and Saracens 34 

Richard at Acre 36 

Map of PaleMine 37 

Richard and Leopold at Acre . . . . 40 
Richard ordering Bertrand de Jourdon 

to be set free 43 

John, from his monument in Wor- 
cester Cathedral 44 

Table showing Arthur's Claim to the 

Throne 45 

The Death of Arthur 49 

Stephen Langton 50 

King John signing the Great Charter . 52 
Henry III., from his tomb at West- 
minster 54 

The English Fleet 55 

Simon de Montfort 58 

Noble and Peasant in Feudal Times . . 61 

Edward and the Assassin . . . . 64 
Edward I., from the Horse Armoury 

in the Tower of London . . . . 64 

English Men-at-Arms at Falkirk . . 70 

Llewellyn, the last Prince of Wales 72 

A Welsh Harper 73 

Map of Wales 77 

The Wye 78 

Bruce and Wallace 82 

Edward II., from his tomb in the 

Cathedral of Gloucester . . . . 6/ 

Bruce at Bannockburn 91 

Edward and his Jailers 96 

Edward III., from his efiBgy at West- 
minster 99 

Douglas and the Prince 102 

Tahle showing the Claim ofEduKird III. 

to the Throne of France . . . . 106 

The English Fleet approaching Sluys.. 109 

Plan of the Battle of CreQy .. . . 113 
Edward congratulating the Black 

Prince on his bravery at Cregy .. 114 
Edward and the Citizens of Calais .. 117 
Plan of the Battle of Poitiers .. .. 120 
King John and the Black Prince enter- 
ing London 122 

Tailpiece— Battle-axe and Crossbow . . 123 
Richard II., from the Jerusalem 

Chamber, Westminster . . . . 129 

The Death of Wat Tyler 134 

The Death of Richard II. . . . . 142 
Henry IV., from his monument at 

Westminster 145 

Table showing the Descent of the Houses 

iif Lancaster and York .. .. 146 

Prince Henry and the Crown , . . . 149 I 



Frontispiece. 

PAGE 

Henry v., from a contemporary illu- 
mination 151 

Henry at Harfleur 153 

Plan of the Battle of Agincourt .. 156 

Henry entering London 157 

Henry VI., from a Portrait in the 

National Portrait Gallery . . . . 159 
Map Illustrating the Hundred Years 

War 161 

Joan of Arc and the Relief of Orleans 163 
Edward IV., from a painting in the 

Royal Collection 165 

Edward V., from the Window of 

Great Malvern Church . . . . 169 
Richard III., from a Portrait in the 

National Portrait Gallery . , . . 170 

Headpiece 175 

Lady Jane Grey at her Studies. . . . 176 
Signatures of the Tudor Sovereigns . . 180 
Henry VII., from the Sutherland 

Clarendon Picture 182 

Table showing the Descent of Henry VII. 183 
Table showing the Chief Rivals of Henry m 

VII 184 

The Landing of Columbus in the New 

World 189 

Henry VIII., from a Painting by Hol- 
bein 191 

The Battle of the Spurs 194 

Plan of Flodden 196 

Cardinal Wolsey, from a Portrait 

by Holbein 198 

Henry Landing at Calais on his way to 

the Field of the Cloth of Gold . . 202 
Henry Dismissing Wolsey . . . . 208 
Sir Thomas More, from a Painting 

by Holbein 212 

Table showing Henry VIII.'s Settlement 

of the Siicctssion 216 

Cranmer, from a Portrait by Hol- 
bein 218 

Edward VI., from a Drawing by Hol- 
bein . . . . . . . . . . 220 

Lady Jane Grey, from a Picture in 

the House of Lords 223 

Lady Jane Grey accepting the Crown 224 
Queen Mary, from a Portrait after 

Holbein 226 

The Death of Mary 227 

Queen Elizabeth, from a Portrait 

by Zucchero 228 

Raleigh and Elizabeth 230 

Sir Philip Sidney at Zutphen . . . . 237 
Queen Mary of Scots, from a Minia- 

tiure belonging to the Queen . . 240 

The Armada.. 242 

Sir Francis Drake 244 

Shakespeare, the Chandos Portrait 247 
Bacon, from a Contemporary Portrait 

by Van Somer B49 

Ships of the Elizabethan Period . . 251 
Elizabeth knighting Drake on his re- 
turn from his Voyage round the 

World 252 

A Street in London in the Time of 

Elizabeth 255 




THE PLANTAGENETS. 

HENRY II.— THE MAN 
AND THE ERA.1 

THE Aim of our Study.— 
When Henry of AnjoQ 
ascended the throne of England, the Normans and the 
Saxons still remained distinct ; and it was during his 
reign that the mingling of the two races began — a pro- 
cess which never ceased until they became welded into 
one compact people, the English nation.^ Our aim 
shall be to study, not merely the lives of kings and 
queens, nor the chronicles of war and victory, but to 
learn the real history of our English forefathers. 

How the Saxons had fared before Henry came. 
— -Henry became king after a time of terrible com- 



lo THE PLANTAGENETS— HENRY II. 

motion. The common people liad suffered dreadful 
oppression. An old Chronicle^ gives ns a full account of 
the horrible tortures inflicted upon the unhappy Saxons. 
Here is one sentence from it : " They hanged up men 
by their feet and smoked them with a foul smoke ; some 
were hanged up by their thumbs, others by the head, and 
burning things were hung on to their feet." Another 
old writer* says, " Wounded and drained of blood by 
civil misery, England lay plague-stricken." 

Such tyranny could only make the Saxons loathe the 
Normans more than ever ; union between tyrant and 
slave seemed impossible. "We shall see, however, that 
all helped to work out the final grand result — a single 
race, speaking one language, subject to the same 
law. 

The Normans desire a Change. — Neither Stephen 
nor Matilda had been able to rule firmly. -To retain 
their followers, both had allowed them to do whatever 
they pleased. Many a noble not only acted as "was 
right in his own eyes," but (having no fear of the law) 
eagerly did what he knew to be wrong. One tyrant 
fought with another ; not a single Norman had any 
rest — it was just like an outbreak of riot in a crew of 
pirates — each one struggled with his neighbour, and all 
were worn out. 

This was not all. Each of the rivals for the throne, 
Stephen in particular, had brought over bands of mer- 
cenaries^ from the Continent. These new-comers, too, 
joined in the battle for booty ; and the Normans looked 
askance at the ' intruders^' who strove with them for a 
share in the plunder of the miserable Saxons. For the 
first time, the Normans in England looked upon people 
from the Continent as ' aliens ; ' ^ the disdainful ' con- 



THE MAN AND THE ERA. n 

querors ' of England liad at last been forced to regard 
themselves as Englishmen. 

TIlus — partly from sheer exhaustion and partly from 
jealousy of the ^foreigner ' '^ — the Normans, as well as 
the suffering Saxons, longed for a change. 

Norman Sympathy with the Saxons. — The wisest 
and best of the barons felt genuine pity for the oppressed ; 
they were disgusted at the cruel lawlessness which pre- 
vailed, and their sympathy turned from their fellow- 
Normans to those whom they had never before thought 
of as their fellow-countrymen. 

To these we must add the leaders of the Chnrcli. 
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Theobald, was a wise 
and good man ; he loved England, his ' country ; ' and 
it was to put an end to the misery that he had supported 
Henry II. in his demand for the throne. Ecclesiastical ^ 
Councils had deposed both Stephen and Matilda ; they 
had not only admitted but repeatedly urged " the right 
of a nation to good government!' 

Henry's Descent : Influence on our History. — Henry 
II. was not himself a Norman. His mother, Matilda, was 
the daughter of a Scottish princess of Saxon blood.^ His 
father, like himself, was Count of Anjou. The first 
count had been a rough hunter on the borders of Brit- 
tany, ^^ where the people were of the same race as the 
Welsh ; he had won his coronet by helping the French 
king against the Norsemen}^ and his successors had 
always remained the enemies and rivals of the Dukes of 
Normandy. It was to win the alliance of the Count of 
Anjou, the only enemy whom he feared, that Henry I. had 
given his daughter Matilda in marriage to the count'^ 
son. Henry II. was then an Angevin ^'^ not a Norman -^ 
^s he was by descent, so was he in character and feeling. 



12 



THE PLANTAGENETS— HENRY II. 



In two ways this helped the Saxons. Henry came 
to England having no special liking for the Normans, 
but determined to rule with a firm hand ; and, as it 
was the Norman and the Flemish ^^ mercenaries who 
were the lawbreakers, all his influence tended to lower 
the petty tyrants and to restore to their true place the 
oppressed Saxons. On the other hand, the Normans 



DESCENT OF HENRY II. 
William the Conqueror. 



Robert 



William 

(Killed at 

Alost). 



Richard 
(Killed by a 

stag). 



William II. 

(Killed by an 

arrow). 



Henry I. 

(Married 
Matilda of 
Scotland). 



Adela 
(Married 
Count of 

Blois). 

I 
Stephen. 



William 
(Drowned in the 
"White Ship"). 



Maud or Matilda 
(Married Geoffrey 
Plantagenet, Count 
of Anjou). 

I 

Henry II. 



were led more and more to look upon Henry's measures 
as ' foreign ' interference, to regard England as their 
liome, and instinctively to turn for help to their fellow- 
islanders. Thus the two races and languages began 
to mingle, and the Saxon or truly English element 
gradually became predominant. 

Henry's Character and Aims. — When Henry became 
King of England, he was already the most powerful 
prince in France. A glance at the accompanying map 
will show how great were his continental possessions ; 
some of these he had inherited from his father, others 



HENRY If? DOMINIOIS^S 




Scale of EudisLMLes 

y . . . . JQO'-' 200 



» .•♦ 



14 THE PLANTAGENETS-HENRY II. 

lie had got with his wicked wife — Eleanor of Poitou. 
The young king ^^ was a man of great activity, strong 
and stirring, the hardiest and the most untiring worker 
of his day. " He never sits down," says a contemporary,^^ 
" he is always on his legs from morning to night." 

Now Henry determined to throw all his energy into 
the work of extending alike his English and his French 
dominions, and of uniting both into one compact and 
magnificent empire. We shall see how much this 
unwearied worker and mighty prince was actually able 
to do, but how completely he was bafiled by ' the spirit 
of his age.' 

In looking back upon past history we are able to 
distinguish strong currents flowing in fixed directions 
during particular periods. When a leader directs his 
people with the undercurrent, he becomes a reformer 
and genius ; when a man — no matter how strong — tries 
to struggle against the mighty tide, he and his work are 
swept away and perish. At Henry's accession, seven 
hundred years ago, there had begun in Europe a steady 
movement among the small feudal principalities and 
dukedoms to form themselves into Nations ; ^^ and when 
Henry thought he could take the half or the whole of 
France and weld it into one with the half or the whole 
of Britain, he was struggling against an irresistible force, 
and was completely foiled. 



1. Era, the period. This lesson shows how 

Henry II. was peculiarly fitted to govern 
England at tins particular period. 

2. The Danish element had, before the Norman 

Conquest, merged into and become one 
with the English people. 

3. The Saxon Chronicle, a chronological record 

of events in English history, beginning 
with an abstract of Bede's Ecclesiastical 
history, and continued by successive 
writers to the year 1154. The language 
of the portion after the Conquest is called 



4. William of Neivbury, a monk and historian 

■who lived in the reigns of Henry II. , Richard 
I. and John. 

5. Mercenaries, those serving for the sake of 

payment. The word ' soldier ' has the 
same literal meaning, 
fi. Aliens, those belonging to another country. 

7. Foreigner literally means one dwelling out 

of doors, or abroad. The word 'forest' 
comes from the same root. 

8. Ecclesiastical, belonging to the Church, from 
the Greek and Latin Ecclesia, a meeting 



Semi-Saxou. I place or church. The same root is found 



THE FIRST SEVEN YEARS OF HENRY'S REIGN. 15 



in many names of places, cf. Eccles, Eccle- 
fechan, &c. 
9. Margaret, the queen of Malcolm of Scotland, 
and sister of Edgar Atheling the grandson 
of Edward the Confessor. 

10. Brittany, the ancient Armorica, the north- 

western province of France. 

11. Norsemen, from whom the Normans were 

descended. 

12. Angevin (pronounced Angsh-vang) an inhabi- 

tant or native of Anjou. 



13. Flemish, belonging to Flanders. The greater 

part of the old province is now included in 
Belgium. 

14. Henry was twenty-two years of age at his 

accession. 

15. Contemporary, one who lived at the same 

time vjith him. 

16. The same movement towards national unity 

is still going on. In our own day the smaller 
divisions of Italy and Germany have been 
thus united. 



THE FIRST SEVEN YEARS OF HENRY'S 

REIGN. 

1154-1161. 

HENRY'S First Measures. — Let us now see how 
Hemy sought to carry out his purpose. Well was 
he called Ciirtmantle ! ^ No long robes would he allow 
to impede his movementSj which remind one of the swift 
sweep of the kingly eagle. At once he set his face ' like 
a flint' to put down lawlessness and to establish good 
government. Without any animosity against either 
Norman or Saxon, partial neither to layman^ nor to 
ecclesiastic, nothing whatever would he permit to turn 
him from his purpose. 

The lawless Flemish' mercenaries of Stephen he 
disbanded and dismissed. The charters^ of London 
and other cities, almost the only safeguard of the 
Saxon toilers, he renewed. He demanded back all 
royal lands which had been granted during the two 
previous reigns, and recovered the royal castles which 
various barons had seized during the same period. 
How the wolves snarled as the gallant huntsman drove 
them from their prey ! On he pressed ; ' eleven 
hundred new castles,' which had been built during the 
civil war and were mere dens of public robbers, he 
razed to the ground. 



1 6 THE PLANTA^ENETS— HENRY II. 

Better still, he re-established Courts of Law, and 
appointed judges to travel through the land for the 
administration of justice and the redress of wrongs. 

Henry's Early EjBPorts to Extend his Dominions. — 
To complete the establishment of his authority in Eng- 
land, the determined king marched northward against 
Malcolm of Scotland, who not only claimed to be Earl 
of Huntingdon, but held the three northern counties of 
England. These latter Henry compelled him to give 
up, and forced him to do homage for his earldom. 

This work was hardly completed when troubles in 
France summoned the tireless monarch to his native 
home. His brother Godfrey claimed Anjou, declaring 
that his father had intended him to have it if Henry 
got England. With one swift blow Godfrey was baffled, 
and Henry once more hurried to the north. 

The Scotch king was again forced to do homage. 
The feudal nobles, hitherto defiant, at the same time 
submitted and surrendered their castles. Henry, with 
resolute energy and splendid success, in two years made 
himself master of the whole of England. Order had 
succeeded disorder. 

Unsuccessful Attack on Wales. — Still determined 
to extend his dominion, Henry next led an army into 
Wales. The task of its conquest was too much even for 
him. The wild Welsh mountains sheltered the hardy 
hill-men, who surprised a large division of the invading 
force and almost completely destroyed it ; the rest of the 
English army they forced to retreat. In several subse- 
quent attempts, while he saved himself from defeat 
and drove the Welsh from the more open country, 
Henry found it impossible to reduce them to submis- 
sion. 



THE FIRST SEVEN YEARS OF HENRY'S REIGN. 17 

Further Extension of Henry's Power. — By arrang- 
ing a marriage between Margaret of France and his 
eldest son, Henry secured a hold upon Brittany in the 
north-west of France. Ever restless, ever anxious to 
extend his French as well as his English dominions, he 
next led an army against Toulouse* in the south-east. 
Here he was foiled by the determined opposition of the 
French king. • 

In this expedition, Henry confirmed the habit of 
receiving money payments ^ from the barons in exchange 
for military service. You will easily see how important 
a step this was. Under the Feudal System previous 
to this reign, the only soldiers at the service of the 
country were the harons and their followers. As a con- 
sequence, the real power had been entirely in their 
hands — the ki7i^ had been their leader, not their ruler ; 
the lata had been subordinate to them, not they to the 
law ; the commons had been their plundered and despised 
serfs, not their free fellow-subjects. 

Now, with the money payments which he received, 
Henry was able to hire soldiers to fight for him. This 
weakened the power of the Norman barons. He was 
also in a position to do away with the Danegeld,^ a tax 
hated by the commons and felt by them to be a heavy 
burden. Thus, the weight was being gradually lifted 
from the shoulders of the Saxons. Slowly but surely, 
the two races were coming to an equal level. 

"We have seen how energetically and with what 
apparent success Henry strove, during these seven years, 
to carry out his policy. No king in feudal times ever 
did more, and yet, as we have said, ultimate failure was 
inevitable. We shall next find him, bent on subjecting 
every one in the state to a strong law administered by him- 

(3) B 



i8 



THE PL ANTAGENETS— HENRY IT. 



self, engaged in a struggle with what was at that time 
a mighty power — the Church. 



1. Curtmantle, short cloak. 

2. Layman, one of the people as distinct from 

the clergy. 

3. Charters, documents or deeds granting certain 

rights, especially that of self-government. 

4. Toulouse, at this time a territory in the south 

of France stretching eastward from the 
Gnronne. 



5. Called Scutage or shield-money. 

6. Danegeld, i.e., Dane-gold or Dane-money; 

originally levied by Ethelred the Unready 
to huy off the Danes. The name had be- 
come to denote a tax levied for the defence 
of the country against sudden danger from 
a foreign foe. 



THE CROWN AND THE CHURCH. 

1161-1170. 

N the struggle between 

Henry and the clergy, the 

leading opponent of the 

:, king was Thomas a Becket. 

% This famous man was son of 

^the Port-reeve^ or Mayor of 

London. His father lost his 

wealth ; and Becket entered 

the service of Theobald, 

Archbishop of Canterbury. 

^/^ He soon became known to 



'C^ the king, rose step by step 
in favour, and was at last 
made Chancellor — one of the highest positions in the 
realm. He was also appointed to many other offices 
and enjoyed vast revenues. 

He lived at this time in much splendour, and acted 
like a great noble rather than as one of the clergy. 
When Theobald died, the king insisted that Thomas 
should take his place as Archbishop. Becket was very 
unwilling ; but at last he reluctantly consented. Imme- 
diately he changed his whole manner of life. He gave 




THOMAS A BECKET. 



THE CROWN AND THE CHURCH. tg 

up all his luxury and pomp; dismissed his gay train, ^ 
lived in simplicity, and assumed the solemn duties of 
leader of the Church. 

Now, at this period, the clergy claimed that they 
could be tried only in their own courts ; but Henry had 
resolved that all his subjects should submit to the law 
of the realm, and from that purpose nothing could turn 
him. Becket, too, was a bold and brave man — one 
who, in a cause he believed to be a right one, would 
never yield except with his life. Men recalled how he 
had once plunged into a swift stream to save his hawk, 
and brought it safely out while even bold warriors shrank 
back in fear. 

There soon arose a contest between the king and the 
Archbishop. The chief points of interest in the struggle 
are brought out in the following dialogue. 

Time, 1164, just hefore the Council of Clarendon^ and 
Bechet' s flight to France. 

Henry. Archbishop ! listen now to my firm will ; 
In which, for all the love and favour kind 
That knit your heart to mine in days gone by, 
I wof* that you will not oppose your king. 

Becket. I never can forget, my Lord, what you 
Have been and done to me. Our hearts and minds 
Were one ; you made me rich and gave me power ; 
Ask of me aught that I may give, even life, 
And it is freely yours. 

Henry. I ask not life I 

Your clergy ^ claim a freedom from the law.^ 
From all sides tidings come of horrid crimes 
Done by vile clerks ; ^ justice unsheaths her sword 



20 THE PLANTAGENETS— HENRY II. 

And claims her due — in steps the Church and says, 

" Nay ! Nay ! the man is mine ; I'll see to it." 

This must no longer be ; 'tis quite opposed 

To all the ancient customs of this realm. 

A power within a power cannot exist. 

Soon, here at Clarendon, our States ^ will meet ; 

And I shall there present the Articles ^ 

Of just and equal law, all old in use. 

From you I ask, demand, assent and aid. 

Becket. My Liege ! You know that I wished not 
this post 
To which you forced me up. I said you'd hate me 

soon. 
As much as then you loved. The sacred rights 
Of our most holy Church I cannot yield ! 
It would be sacrilege. ^^ Even my king 
I cannot aid against my order's rights. 

Henry. Thomas ! beware ! You know not what you do. 
I love the Church with filial love ; through it 
The blessed gift of our salvation comes. 
Demand of mine is not against her rights. 
You were an upright law-respecting man ; 
How can you guard the miscreant, ruffian crew, 
Who under this new power claimed by your courts 
Are sheltered from th' avenging outraged sword 
Of justice stern? 'Tis shame upon our realm. 
Nowhere will law be rev'renced and obeyed. 
While in our midst your clerks can laugh with scorn 
At its most holy rules. 

Becket. My Lord, 'tis true 

That evil men have ranked themselves with us. 
'Tis but th' abuse of a most precious right — 
What gift that God has given is not abused ! 



THE CROWN AND THE CHURCH. 2i 

You, noble Sire, use well the kingly power, 
You rule with justice and desire but right. 
But, Siro, kings there have been before your reign 
Who used their office 'gainst all that was good ; 
Then, in our courts the pious and the learned 
Their refuge found from ruthless tyrant's sway. 
When you're at rest in Heaven's blessed sleep, 
■ What guardian will remain against misrule ? 

Henry. The law ! which I shall leave so just and strong, 
That neither prince nor priest will dare it break. 
There's more to say ! You prelates of the Church 
Claim new, unheard of, strange immunities : ^^ 
Before, you gladly ranked with our great lords ; 
But oioio you separate yourselves from them. 
And, ' Privilege ' your cry, refuse to bear 
The burdens of the state. This too, must cease. 
The great Archbishops who preceded you 
Submission meet have made to weaker kings. 
Do you the same by me ; the Church will have 
No better son, nor you a truer friend. 

Becket. My Lord, it cannot be. 

Henry. Then list, priest. 

I raised you up, and I will cast you down ; 
I made you rich, and I will leave you poor. 
I'll forfeit all the goods of all your kin. 
And drive them with you and your helpers all 
From forth the realm. 

Becket. Proud king, I serve a power 

Greater than thine. You o'er the body hold 
A mighty rule, it o'er the soul doth reign -, 
You raised me up, but it called you from France 
And made you sovereign -^^ here. Your threat I cast 
You back ; and say ^ Beware, lest that same Church 



22 THE PL ANTAGENETS -HENRY II. 

That made you miglity king undo its work, 
And leave you ruined now, Hopeless hereafter.' 

Henry. No more, ungrateful man ! Meet me forthwith 
At Clarendon ; and there before your peers 
Repeat this threat if thou hast hardihood. 
If you submission make, I'll all forgive ; 
If not, then dread the worst for you and yours. 

Murder of Becket.— The end of this struggle was 
very sad. After six years of exiled life in France, the 
Archbishop returned in 1 1 70 to England, and excom- 
municated the chief of his adversaries. When this was 
told to Henry he was very angry, and cried out, " Are 
there none of the cowards eating my bread who will free 
me from this turbulent priest ? " 

Four of his knights hurried to Canterbury, forced 
their way into the victim's presence, and demanded that 
he should yield to the king. His attendants forced 
k Becket into the Cathedral, and he took his stand 
before the altar. There, in the sad, dim, solemn dusk, 
the fearless Archbishop was cruelly murdered. 

The people regarded Becket as a martyred saint, and 
made many pilgrimages to his shrine \ all Christendom 
was shocked at the crime, and Henry had to yield many 
of the points he had gained. 

1. Port-reeve, i.e., governor of the port. Cf. j ' clerk ' came to be used for one tliat writes 

Shire-reeve or Sheriff. I for another. 

1. Train, followers or dependants. | 8. States, that is, the Great Council or Parlia- 

3. Clarendon, in Wilts, two miles south-east of ment. The King, Lords, and Commons 

Salisbury. \ are still called the ' Three Estates of the 

4. Wot, originally the past tense of the A. S. ' Realm.' 

luitan, to know ; came to be used as a pre- 9. Articles. These were known as the ' Con- 
sent, and thus meant to know. I stitutions of Clarendon." 

5. Clergy, Latin Clericus, Greek Kleros, literally ' 10. Sacrilege, the act of stealing sacred things, 

means those chosen by lot for the service j violating or profaning sacred things, 

of the Church. Cf. Acts i. 26. | 11. Immunities, i.e., freedom from services. 

C. This privilege was called 'Benefit of Clergy.* 12. Sovereign is more correctly spelt as by 
7. Clerks, i.e., clergymen. As in those days Milton, sovra?i. The word is derived from 

the clergy alone were able to read and the Latin, siipremus, highest ; and the last 

write, and were always employed to write syllable, reign, is in no sense connected 

letters and other dociiments, the word with the word reign (Lat. regnum). 



THE CROWN AND THE CHURCH. 




MURDER OF BECKET. 



24 THE PLANTAGENETS-HENPvY TT. 

HENRY'S LAST TRIUMPH AND FALL. 
1170-1189. 

THE Conquest of Ireland. — As we liave had clearly 
placed before us the aims of Henry, the nature of 
the work he had set himself to do, and his place in the 
liistory of the country, we may proceed more rapidl}^ over 
the rest of his reign. His eager ambition to extend his 
dominions had led him, many years before the actual 
invasion, to obtain a papal bulP for the conquest of Ire- 
land. The Pope, you must know, was believed to have 
supreme control over all outlying islands ; and so his 
consent was considered necessary before the expedition 
could be attempted. An opportunity now presented 
itself 

Ireland was subject to four kings, under whom were 
numerous princes and chiefs. From time to time the 
supreme control was in the hands of one sovereign 
ruler, the '' Ardriagh " or Powerful King. When the 
government of this monarch was not exceptionally 
strong, the country was rent by civil wars. One of 
these now occurred. 

Dermot, tlie licentious King of Leinster, had carried 
off the wife of one of the minor princes ; the Ardriagh, 
O'Connor, King of Connaught, had driven him from his 
throne. He came to Henry and obtained permission to 
gather an army in England. There were at that time 
many barons who had impoverished themselves in the 
civil war between Stephen and Matilda ; these men, 
with their followers, were ready to take part in any 
enterprise which offered tliem a chance of regaining 
wealth and power. Dermot had no difficulty in finding 



n 



HENRY'S LAST TRIUMPH AND FALL. 



25 



many in Wales and the west of England to espouse his 
cause. Of these, the chief was Richard of Clare/ sur- 
nanied Strongbow. 

Very easily, the small but well-equipped force scat- 
tered the ill-trained and badly-armed hordes of the 
natives. Wexford, Waterford, and Dublin fell into the 
hands of the invaders. Strongbow married Derniot's 
daughter, and succeeded him as King of Leinster. 
Then came Henry to 
reap the fruits of this 
conquest. He left the 
greater part of the 
country under native 
custom and subject to 
King O'Connor, estab- 
lished his followers and 
Eno^lish law in the 
region round the east 
and south coasts, and 
took the title of " Lord 
of Ireland." 

These petty victo- 
ries, scarcely worthy of 
the name, are called 
the " Conquest of Ire- 
land." We cannot but regret that things happened 
as they did. Had the Irish nation been able to 
defend their liberties, they would undoubtedly in due 
time have joined the empire of their own free 
will — a united, patriotic, and self-respecting people. 
Had Henry succeeded in completely conquering the 
island, things might have gone on there as they did 
with the Saxons in England. In either case, much 




IRELAND IN THE REIGN OF 
HENRY II. 



26 THE PLANTAGENETS— HENRY II. 

miserv, dissension, and lawlessness would never have 
appeared in Ireland's after-history. 

The First Great Insurrection against Henry. — A 
danger now threatened Henry's power, which for a time 
he was able to repel, but which finally overwhelmed 
him. The barons had bitterly resented his attacks upon 
their power. They were no longer supreme judges in 
their districts, and paid soldiers had taken their place 
in the field. They now had an opportunity of showing 
their hatred. 

The king's eldest son, who had previously been 
crowned, demanded immediate possession of England. 
He was refused, and fled to the court of the King of 
France. Many of the barons took up his cause. How 
bitter this must have been to the proud heart of the 
great king ! All his struggle had been to win a magni- 
ficent empire for this very son ; and now his hope, his 
heir, had joined his mightiest enemy. 

ISTor was this all. Henry was like a stag at bay. 
From all sides, his foes attacked him. The French 
king seized the chance of weakening his great rival ; 
the Flemish mercenaries, whom Henry had expelled 
from England, invaded the east coast ; and a Scottish 
army crossed the Border.^ Any other king would cer- 
tainly have been crushed. Henry, however, was able 
to triumph over all his opponents. 

To appease the Church and please the people, he did 
penance at Becket's tomb and offered his naked back 
to the scourge. Then with wonderful rapidity, he van- 
quished his foes by a series of brilliant victories. The 
King of Scotland,"^ in particular, was captured and made 
to pay homage for his realm. It was upon the pretext 
of this humiliation of the Scottish monarch, that a 



^ 



HENRY'S LAST TRIUMPH AND FALL. 27 

later English king ^ sought to subject Scotland to liis 
rule. 

Henry's Great Legal Measures. — We cannot speak 
of Henry's sad death, without once more looking back 
upon his noble deeds. He always had professed a love 
for order and law. Now, in the zenith ^ of his power, he 
showed how real was this love. It is this that makes 
one pity his fate, and regret that he had fixed his mind 
upon a hopeless scheme — an ignis fatims ' which lured 
him to destruction. 

This great king put in thorough order the system by 
which royal judges should visit all parts of the country 
from year to year. When it was shown that these 
judges accepted bribes, he formed a High Court of Ap- 
peal against their decisions. 

Trial hy Ju7'i/, too, owes its origin to Henry. Freemen 
were no longer to be left at the mercy of any lord, but 
were to be judged by the oaths of ' twelve lawful men of 
their own hundred.' ^ Before this reign, even murder 
could be atoned for by a money payment ; this Henry 
abolished, and ordained that all serious crimes should 
meet a heavy punishment. Well kept he his promise : — 

" The Law ! which I shall leave so just and strong, 
That neither prince nor priest will dare it break." 

Finally, all able-bodied men were bound to defend 
their country. ISTone were excused. Knights in their 
mail, yeomen and burghers with their sword and lance, 
all free-born men must fight for England. Glorious 
act ! No longer call the Saxons slaves : they, too, were 
summoned to draw the sword for their country side by 
side with those who had been their conquerors. 

Henry's Fall. — Henry has been compared to an 



28 



THE PL ANTAGENETS— HENRY II. 



' eagle slain by liis young.' Four several times liis sons 
joined with his enemies. The patriarch of old cried 
out, "If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved." 
AVhat must have been the feelings of this noble king 
when the very boys for whom he had founded an empire 
turned against him ! His first and third sons were both 
dead. His second, strong in frame and brave in deed, 
now helped his sworn foe. 

Henry's great ambition had been, as you know, to 
join his English and French dominions into one great 
empire. All his hopes were now bitterly disappointed. 
Not only were many of his French provinces taken from 
him, but he was deprived even of Anjou — the home of 
his race. He saw with weeping eyes his native town ^ 
in flames. Lifting his hands to heaven, he cried out : 
" Thou hast taken from me that which I loved best — 
the place where I was born and where my father lies." 

Still there was one son left. His youngest ! Surely, 
he would be true. Alas ! John also had turned traitor.-^^ 
'' Then burst his mighty heart." Turning his face to the 
wall, he said '' Let all things go — I care not for the 
world nor for myself." 

We are told that his son Richard wept over the dead 
body of his sire. Well might he weep. The ambitious 
hopes of all his dynasty lay dead with that great king. 



1. Bull, a papal edict, so called from the seal 

(Lat. bulla) affixed to it. 

2. Richard of Clare. The family name of Clare 

was taken from one of their estates in 
tlie south of Sutfolk. Strongbow's father 
received the title of Earl of Pembroke, 
after a successful inroad into South Wales. 

3. The Border. Tlie district where England 

and Scotland ' ntarch' together, i.e., the 
country on each side of the boundary line. 

4. AVilliam the Lion. 

5. Edward I. 

«. Zenith, the higliest point. The word pro- 
perly means the point of the heavens right 
over head. 



7. Ignis fatuus, a babbling or foolish fire, a 

shifting light seen on summer nights a 
few feet from the ground over morasses. 
Travellers often mistake it for light in a 
house and, seeking to approach it, are lost. 
Also called 'Jack-a- lantern,' 'Will-o'-the- 
wisp.' 

8. Hundred, a subdivision of a county in Eng- 

land ; may originally have contained a 
hundred families. 

9. Tours, on the Loire. 

10. At the head of the list of those nobles who 
had joined Richard in rebellion against 
him, Henry found the name of his loved 
son John. 



A FEUDAL KNIGHT UPON THE THRONE. 



29 



RICHARD I. 



A FEUDAL KNIGHT UPON THE 
THRONE. 

1189. 




HARACTER and Aims of 
Richard. — Richard, justly 
called Coeur-de-Lion or 
Lion-heart, was the very 
model of the steel - clad 
knight of old. In him, the 
untiring activity of Henry 
appeared as surpassing mus- 
cular strength and dauntless 
physical courage ; his father's 
cool bravery was warmed 
J by the fire of his mother's ^ 
KicHARD I. southern clime. 

He still clung to Henry's dream of an Anglo-French 
empire, and saw clearly that this could never be realised 
without the humiliation of his rival — the King of France. 
Unlike his father, he failed to perceive that the only 
road to victory lay through the firm administration of a 
just and impartial law. This was well shown in his 
choice of ministers. While his undoubted remorse and 
filial grief led him to choose the advisers of his father, 
his lack of insight caused him to reject the great law- 
giver of the past reign — Ranulf de Glanvill. 

Neither Henry nor Richard realised that their true 
kingdom was England. Richard spoke his mother's 
language and sang the soft songs of Provence ; ^ his ideal 
of the poet was the troubadour ^ of Languedoc ; * to sur- 
pass the French king in knightly prowess and to lead 



30 THE PLANTAGENETS— RICHAED I. 

a united army of all the provinces of France to victory 
and fame, formed liis liigliest ambition. He ceased to 
be an English king — England was merely liis treasury ; 
Englishmen were but soldiers, to be cared for only as 
they helped him to his wished-for empire. 

Still his form was so Herculean,^ his courage so con- 
spicuous, his acts so generous, that for the first time since 
the Conquest the Saxons looked upon their king with 
admiration. His recklessness they could sympathise 
with ; his misfortunes they could pity ; his victories 
they felt to be their own. 

The Lion-Heart in Battle.*^ — ''What dost thou see, 
Rebecca ? " again demanded the wounded knight. 

" Nothing but the cloud of arrows flying so thick as 
to dazzle mine eyes, and to hide the bowmen who shoot 
them." 

''That cannot endure," said Ivanhoe ; " if they press 
not right on to carry the castle by pure force of arms, 
the archery may avail but little against stone walls and 
bulwarks. Look for the knight of the Fetterlock,^ fair 
Rebecca, and see how he bears himself; for as the 
leader is, so will his followers be." 

"I see him not," said Rebecca. 

" Foul craven ! " exclaimed Ivanhoe ; " does he 
blench from the helm when the wind blows highest ? " 

" He blenches not ! he blenches not ! " said Rebecca; 
" I see him now. He leads a body of men close under 
the outer barrier. They pull down the piles and pali- 
sades ; they hew down the barriers with axes. His 
high black plume floats abroad over the throng, like a 
raven over the field of the slain. They have made a 
breach in the barriers — they rush in — they are thrust 
back ! Front-de-Boeuf ^ heads the defenders. Front-de- 



A FEUDAL KNIGHT UPON THE THRONE. 31 

Boeuf and the Black Knight fight hand to hand in 
the breach amid the roar of their followers, who watch 
the ^^ogress of the strife. — Heaven strike with the cause 
of the oppressed and of the captive ! " 

She then uttered a loud shriek, and exclaimed, " He 
is down ! he is down ! " 

'' Who is down ? " cried Ivanhoe ; " tell me which 
has fallen ! " 

'^ The Black Knight," answered Eebecca faintly ; 
then instantly again shouted, with joyful eagerness, 
" But no ! but no ; — he is on foot again, and fights as 
,. if there were twenty men's strength in his single arm. 
His sword is broken — he snatches an axe from a yeoman 
— he presses Front- de-Boeuf with blow on blow. The 
giant staggers and totters like an oak under the steel 
of the woodman — he falls ! — he falls ! " 

" Front-de-Boeuf ? " exclaimed Ivanhoe. 

" Front-de-Boeuf ! " answered the Jewess. "His 
men rush to the rescue and drag Front-de-Boeuf within 
the walls." 

" Ah ! " exclaimed the knight ; "do the false yeomen 
give way ? " 

" No ! " exclaimed Eebecca, " they bear themselves 
right yeomanly — the Black Knight approaches the pos- 
tern ^ with his huge axe — the thundering blows which he 
deals, you may hear them above all the din and shouts 
of the battle — stones and beams are hailed down upon 
the bold champion — he regards them no more than if 
they were thistle-down or feathers ! " 

" Ha ! " said Ivanhoe, raising himself joyfully on his 
couch, "methought there was but one man in England 
that might do such a deed ! Seest thou nought, Eebecca, 
by which the Black Knight may be distinguished ? " 



32 THE PLANTAGENETS— PJOHARD I. 

"Notliing," said the Jewess; ''all about him is 
black as the wing of the night raven. Nothing can I 
spy that can mark him further ; but having once seen 
him put forfch his strength in battle, niethinks I could 
know him asfain amona; a thousand warriors. He rushes 
to the fray as if he were summoned to a banquet. There 
is more than mere strength, — there seems as if the 
whole soul and spirit of the champion were given to 
every blow which he deals upon his enemies. God for- 
give him the sin of bloodshed ! — it is fearful, yet mag- 
nificent, to behold how the arm and heart of one man 
can triumph over hundreds." 

The Knight-King- Prepares for War. — The oppor- 
tunity of surpassing his rival, for which Richard had 
.been longing, soon came. Since the time of William 
Rufus, all Europe had been stirred up by a grand reli- 
gious movement. Jerusalem, the City of the Great 
King, was in the hands of infidels — followers of Maho- 
met, despisers of our Lord. Pilgrims, seeking to wor- 
ship at the Holy Sepulchre, had been plundered by 
mocking unbelievers. 

All Europe was summoned to fight for the Faith ; 
and, in myriads, the religious and the warlike answered 
the call. Every soldier wore upon his breast the sign 
of the cross, all were Crusaders ; the war was a Holy 
War. 

Richard, confident in his matchless prowess, seized 
upon such an enterprise as the one certain way of 
exalting himself above Philip of France. " Give us," 
said he, " but lance in hand and an equal field, and they 
shall soon see who is fittest to lead a Christian host." 
All his resources were devoted to this end. Scotland's 
allegiance, royal estates, crown jewels, everything that 



THE THIRD CRUSADE. 



33 



he could sell, were readily given up in order to equip a 
force for this romantic war. 



1. Eleanor of Poitou. 

2. Provence, the southern part of France be- 

tween the Rhone and the Pyrenees. The 
Romans called this part of Gaul their ^ro- 
vince, lience the name. 

S. Troubadour, the poet-singer of the south ; 
corresponding to the trouvire or romancer 
of the north. 

4. Languedoc,%he name applied to Provence 
(see above) from the language spoken there, 
called Langue d'Oc; the corresponding 
northern dialect was known as the Langue 
d'Oil. Both names were derived from their 
words for j/es— the former (oc) from the 
Latin hoc, this ; the latter (oil) from the 
Latin illud, that. 



5. Herculean, like Hercules, the Greek hero- 

god of strength. 

6. Abridged from the Siege of the Norman Castle 

of Torquilstone, in Scott's ' Ivanhoe.' The 
speakers are Ivanhoe, a wounded Saxon 
kniglit, and Rebecca, a Jewess — both pri- 
soners in the castle. Tliey were rescued by 
Robin Hood and his archers, aided by the 
Black Knight who was none other than 
King Richard in disguise. 

7. Fetterlock, i.e., the padlock for securing the 

fetters ; the device on the Black Knight's 
shield indicated the captivity from which 
he had recently escaped. 

8. Front-de-Boeuf, brow of the ox, or bull-head. 

9. Postern, a small side or back gate. 



THE THIRD CRUSADE. 

1189-1194. 

THE Soldiers of the Crescent.-^ — Palestine was at 
this time under the rule of a noble and enlightened 
Saracen prince, Saladin the Great. This illustrious 
warrior had established a magnificent empire extending 
from Tripoli ^ to the Tigris ; Egypt, Palestine, Syria, 
Mesopotamia,^ all owned his sway; a million scimitars* 
flashed at his command. 

These Saracens were Arabs and followers of Mahomet; 
but although unbelievers, they were not uncivilised. In 
architecture, astronomy, medicine, mathematics, and 
domestic comfort, they far surpassed the warlike 
Crusaders. You will not wonder then that one great 
effect upon Europe of these wars was a great advance 
in art and science, together with an increase of wealth 
and commerce. 

These ' soldiers of the Crescent ' fought without the 
heavy armour of the Christian knights. Their horses 

(3) C 



34 



THE PLANTAGENETS— RICHARD I. 



were light and swift ; tlie turban took the place of the 
helmet ; their weapons were the keen scimitar, the 
sharp javelin, and the swift arrow. Quickness and 
dexterity, rather than strength and weight, were their 
best qualities as soldiers — qualities especially valuable 
on a sandy soil and under a blazing eastern sun. 

It was, then, into a war with such oppoj^ents that 
Richard plunged. His determination to surpass Philip 
was his impelling motive, his religious enthusiasm was 




CRUSADERS AND SARACENS. 



his warrant, his chivalrous delight in strife and victory 
threw a halo of enjoyment round the whole enterprise. 

The Journey to Palestine. — Richard and Philip met 
on the plain of Vezelay in Burgundy.^ Their army 
numbered 1 00,000 men. Knights in splendid armour, 
yeomen with sword and lance, cross -bowmen and 
archers, formed a force which nothing but dissension 
and jealousy could defeat. 

Richard's heart must have swelled with martial pride. 
1^0 army under the sun could cope with the Christian 



THE THIRD CRUSADE. 35 

host ; and no knight in all that force could match the 
peerless Paladin ^ of England. 

Marseilles^ Messina^ Cyprus^ mark different stages 
on the route to Palestine. The French army went by 
Genoa. ^^ It has been noted that while they sailed from 
that port in hired ships, the English made their voyage 
in vessels of their own. 

The whole force spent the winter at the Sicilian port, 
for the mariners of that age shrank from the dangers 
of a voyage in the stormy season. This delay was most 
unfortunate. Had the enthusiasm which animated the 
crusading armies been at once directed against the 
Saracen foe, the mutual jealousy of the two kings might 
have had no opportunity of showing itself, and victory 
would have been certain. As it was, the rancorous 
spirit of the leaders so infected the whole of their 
followers that the two parties nearly engaged in fierce 
combat. 

The contrast between the monarchs was now well 
seen. Richard, fierce and warlike, impatient of control, 
ever ready to appeal to arms, was called ' the Lion ; ' 
Philip, smooth and conciliating, stooping to listen to all 
who could be of service to him, trusting rather to policy 
and plot than to prowess, was dubbed ^ the Lamb.'' 

For various reasons Richard refused to wed Philip's 
sister, Alice, to whom his father had betrothed him, and 
married Berengaria of Navarre.^^ This offence was never 
forgiven. The two great leaders of the Crusade left 
Sicily not merely as rivals but as bitter enemies. 

In the Holy Land. — At length more than a year 
after the march to Marseilles, the English army landed 
at Acre on the north-west coast of Palestine. This port 
had been strongly fortified by the Saracens, and was 



36 



THE PLANTAGENETS— RICHARD I. 



defended by a garrison under the command of Saladin's 
teacher in the art of war. For two years the Crusaders 




'^^? 



EICHAKD AT ACRE. 



had striven in vain to take this fortress. In fact, the 
besiegers had become the lesieged ; for the Christian 



THE THIRD CRUSADE. 



37 



army had been surrounded by a force led by the Saracen 
king himself, and no way of escape was left to them 
except by sea. 

It was at this crisis that Richard and Philip arrived. 
At once the tide of victory turned ; and, had it not been 
for mutual jealousy and hatred, Jerusalem would have 
been won. The rival nations strove to surpass one 
another in deeds of valour. 
Richard, in particular, 
aroused the enthusiasm of 
the whole crusading force, 
and excited the wondering 
dread of the unbelieving 
foe. Then he right nobly 
won his name not only 
of ' Lion ' but of ' Lion- 
heart ; ' and to him and 
him alone, all but his per- 
sonal foes ascribed the glory 
when Acre fell. 

His passionate pride 
once more undid the work 
done by his mighty arm. 




PALESTINE. 



The Duke of Austria had planted his standard upon one 
of the towers of Acre, but Richard tore it down and mor- 
tally insulted his adversary by striking him a blow. At 
the same time Philip of France withdrew from the Crusade, 
and left behind him but a small part of his force. There 
followed a period of suffering and cruelty : of cruelty, for 
the prisoners were slain on both sides ; and of suffering, for 
famine cut off hundreds of the poorer people, and compelled 
even noble knights to hire themselves as servants. 

From Acre Richard led his army along the coast 



38 THE PLANTAGENETS— RICHARD 1. 

towards tlie strong fortress of Ascalon. On his way 
tliither he was met at Arsouf^ near Jopjja^ by a great 
army of 300,000 men. Then was fought one of the 
greatest battles of that age. The two wings of the 
crusading army were broken and defeated ; the centre, 
led by Richard himself, alone retrieved the fortunes of 
the day. He won a complete victory, and 40,000 
Saracens are said to have fallen. Joppa was immediately 
taken, and Ascalon soon fell. 

But the spirit of the Christian army was broken. 
Germans, Italians, and French were obstinately deter- 
mined to proceed no further. Richard advanced towards 
Jerusalem, but was forced to halt within sight of its 
walls. He was summoned back to relieve Joppa, which 
had been attacked by Saladin. Here he won his last 
victory, and the fruitless crusade ended in a three years' 
truce, and thus Richard's great scheme fell to the 
ground. 

The spot is still shown where Richard looked upon 
' the Holy City,' ' the joy of the whole earth.' The 
rosy dawn broke over the distant hills, ' the mountains 
round about Jerusalem ' shone with celestial beauty in 
the fresh morning light. Before him lay the spots 
rendered sacred by — 

" Those blessed feet, 
Which eighteen hundred years ago, were nailed 
For our advantage on the bitter cross." 

The Holy Sepulchre was almost within his grasp. 
Covering his eyes with his hand, he wept bitter tears of 
regret and disappointment. "He who is not able to 
win you, is not worthy to look upon you," he exclaimed 
in bitterness of heart. 



THE CHUSADER'S RETURN. 



39 



Once more lie showed how this ^ kingdom of Jeru- 
salem ' had filled his heart. As the ship was bearing 
him away from its sunlit strand, he placed himself in 
the stern where he could catch the last glimpse of the 
receding shore. With outstretched hand and uplifted 
eye, he cried out, '' Holy Land ! dear Holy Land ! I 
leave thee now, but I shall soon return and set thee 
free or die amid thy fields." 

Was it for this he had drained his island-realm of 
treasure and of men ? Was it for this so many fearless 
swords had flashed and so many brave hearts bled ? 
Perhaps in that moment of exceeding sorrow he thought 
upon the sad face of his dead father, to whom he had 
given the cruellest wound, who had seen the cherished 
purpose of his life brought to nought, and who also had 
been forced to weep over the loss of the town as dear to 
him as life. 



1. Crescent. The Mahommedan symbol was 

the Cresceiit or growing moon, just as that 
of the Christians was the Cross. 

2. Tripoli, in North Africa, between Tunis and 

Egypt. 

3. Mesopotamia, literally the country between 

the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. 

4. Scimitars, sharp curved swords. 

5. Burgundy, a province in the south-east of 

France. 

6. Paladin, a champion or hero : derived 

from palatinue, the name applied to 
the officers in the palace of the Byzan- 
tine emperor. It was afterwards applied 



to the chieftains in Charlemagne's army, 
and so came to mean a distinguished 
warrior. 

7. Marseilles, the chief port of France on the 

Mediterranean. 

8. Messina, a port in the north-east of Sicily, 

on the straits of the same name. 

9. Cyprus, an island in the Levant, now occu" 

pied by England. 

10. Genoa, a famous port on the north-west coast 

of Italy. 

11. Navarre, a province on the Spanish side of 

the Pyrenees, then an independent king- 
dom. 



THE CRUSADER'S RETURN. 

CAPTIVITY of Richard. — On his way homewards, 
Richard twice suffered shipwreck ; and, being afraid 
to venture into France, he determined to travel in dis- 
guise across Austria and Germany.-^ Near Vienna, he was 
captured and imprisoned by the Duke of Austria, whom 



40 



THE PLANTAGENETS— RICHARD I. 



lie had insulted at Acre. He was now loaded with 
irons and confined in a loathsome dungeon. All Europe 
rung with indignation at such an outrage on the hero 
of Christendom.^ Still his captors held him fast. He 
was sold to the Emperor of Germany, and was by him 

treated with equal 



barbarity. 

He now tasted 
the bitterness of 
' benefits forgot.' 
His brother John 
eagerly joined with 
Philip of France 
and his other ene- 
mies, strove to per- 
petuate his impri- 
sonment, declared 
that he was dead, 
and sought to have 
himself crowned as 
King of England. 
In spite of all, he 
was at last set free, 
but only on tlie 
payment of an 
enormous ransom,^ 
which his English 
subjects gladly impoverished themselves to produce. 

Closing- Events of the Reign. — The eff'ect of this 
crusade had been to advance still further the union 
of all the divisions of France into one nation. The 
Normans would no longer accept the Angevin prince 
as their own Duke, and Richard had to rule them as a 




KICHARD AND LEOPOLD AT ACRE. 



THE CRUSADER'S RETURN. 41 

foreign conqueror ; their strongholds he garrisoned with 
mercenaries, among whom the old Norman names were 
missing. Philip, aided by John, had invaded Normandy ; 
Eichard was set free just in time to hold him in check upon 
the frontier, and soon compelled him to agree to a truce. 

The southern province of Aquitaine* had also risen in 
revolt ; the nobles there were disgusted with the inso- 
lence of the hired soldiery. Richard was able, however, 
to reduce the rebels to submission; for in actual war- 
fare, none could withstand the Lion-heart. 

He now built a strong castle on an islet in the Seine, 
above Rouen the capital of Normandy. It was meant 
to serve the double purpose of keeping back Philip from 
without and of keeping down the Normans within. It 
was called ' Saucy Castle,' and was the strongest fortress 
reared in the Middle Ages. Its building occupied but 
one year ; and as Richard looked upon its impregnable 
walls, he exultingly cried, ' How pretty a babe is mine, 
this child of but one year old.' " I will take it," said 
Philip, " though its walls be of brass." " I should hold 
it," jeeringly answered his rival, " though its walls were 
of butter." 

The close of Richard's reign was sadly typical of a 
life of almost continual broil and battle. He was sorely 
in need of money. He heard that a treasure — twelve 
golden statues — had been found by one of his vassals. 

To the Castle of Chaluz^ he led his army and demanded 
the treasure. When this was refused, he declared that he 
would put the whole garrison to the sword. As he was 
riding round, scanning the walls and forming his plan of 
attack, a solitary arrow sped from the ramparts and 
pierced his shoulder. An unskilful surgeon caused the 
wound to fester, and it finally proved fatal. 



42 THE PLANTAGENETS— RICHARD I. 



1 



Tlie castle was taken and all put to tlie sword. The 
archer^ wlio liad wounded tlie king was reserved for 
special puniskment. 

When brought before Richard, the dying prince said 
to him : " What have I done to you that you should 
take my life ? " . - 

" You have slain my father and my two brothers," 
was the bold reply. " I am ready to bear any torture 
for having rid the world of so troublesome a tyrant." 

Richard ordered him to be rewarded and set free, an 
instance of that knightly generosity which compensated 
for his occasional acts of passion. But no sooner had 
the great Crusader expired, than his soldiers put the 
archer to a cruel death. 

Effects of the Reign upon our History. — During 
the last months of his reign, Richard had placed the 
supreme power in the hands of Walter, Archbishop of 
Canterbury, who had been trained by the great lawyer 
Glanvill. This statesman carried still further the legal 
plans of Henry II. The king's courts were made still 
more supreme over the local courts, and they exercised 
their power very strictly. Thus all classes were gradually 
led to think of the crown as their common oppressor. 
The nobles more and more looked upon the Saxons as 
fellow-Englishmen ; the Saxons no longer regarded the 
barons as their brutal tyrants, from whom the king was 
their sole protector. So that although France and Pales- 
tine occupied so much of Richard's attention, yet his 
neglect of this country but helped forward the grand 
union of all sections of the people into one great nation. 



1. Ricliard wished to reach the territory of his 

relative the Duke nf Saxony. 

2. Christendom, the Christian countries of 

Europe. 



4. Aquitaine, that part of France between the 

Loire and the Pyrenees. 

5. Chaluz, near Limoges, in Limousin, one of 
the central provinces of France. 



3. The ransom amounted to 150,000 silver marks. 6. Named Bertrand de Jourdon. 



THE CRUSADER'S RETURN 




44 



THE PLANTAGENETS— JOHN. 




ACCESSION OF JOHN AND LOSS OF 
NORMANDY. 

1199-1205. 

HARACTER of John. — 
John is declared by all oliro- 
niclers to have been the vilest 
of men. No services ren- 
dered to him could win his 
gratitude ; no promises were 
observed by him ; no virtue 
was respected by him. Father 
and brother alike he had 
betrayed ; and now we shall 
find him ready to steal the 
inheritance of his young 
nephew, and to deprive him 
of eyesight and of life. 
Yet this despicable king was gifted with great ability. 
Some of his measures prove him to have been as shrewd 
a statesman as his father, and at other times he showed 
himself a more skilful general than his brother. Yet 
he had none of the regard for just law which digni- 
fied the former, nor the heroic courage and personal 
prowess which won admiration for the latter. 

Finally, his conduct disgusted all who came in contact 
with him. Thus, in spite of his splendid talents, he lost 
all for which his race had striven ; was humiliated as no 
English sovereign had ever been ; and died ' unwept, 
unhonoured, and unsung.' Yet from this vile prince his 
subjects were able to wrest a priceless acknowledgment 
of their rights ; and thus from the worst of her monarchs 



JOHN. 



ACCESSION OF JOHN AND LOSS OF NORMANDY. 45 

England derived blessings as great as she received even 
from the best and wisest of her kings. 

John and Arthur. — The son of Henry II. who was 
next in age to Richard was Geoffrey. Accordingly, his 
son Arthur was the rightful heir ; but John, in defiance 
of feudal law, seized the crown of England and the duke- 



Table showing Akthur's Claim to the Throne. 
Henry II. 



Richard I, Geoffrey. John. 

I 

Arthur. 



dom of Normandy. The queen-mother, Eleanor, secured 
for him the southern part of his French dominions, and 
to Arthur was left only the central portion. 

Philip of France, carrying- out his old policy, seized 
the opportunity of destroying the power of his rival. He 
declared for Arthur, and war commenced. 

John, with remarkable ability, formed a combination 
amongst all Philip's enemies. This made the French 
king pause ; and then John won him over by proposing 
a marriage between Philip's son Louis and his own niece 
Blanche."^ Poor Arthur's claims thus, for a time, fell 
to the ground ; and John seemed to have a firm hold 
of every part of his empire. 

The wicked shamelessness of the English king soon 
revived the war. He put away his wife,^ and carried off 
the betrothed bride of a French count. ^ This countess 
he made his queen. At once, the southern part of 
France rebelled ; the English barons demanded their 



46 



THE PLANTAGENETS— JOHN. 



rights, and refused to leave their country to fight in 
France ; Philip renewed the war, and Arthur again put 
forward his rightful claim. 

John managed to capture his nephew, and cast him 
into prison.* He was never seen by his friends again. 




THE DEATH OF ARTHUE. 



The story is that John ordered his eyes to be put out ; 
but that the man sent to do the cruel deed relented 
and could not commit so hideous a crime. It was 
whispered that one gloomy night John himself, taking 
the youth in a boat to the middle of the Seine, stabbed 



ACCESSION OF JOHN AND LOSS OF NORMANDY. 47 

him to the heart, and threw his body into the dark 
waves of the rolling river. 

Our great poet Shakespeare^ gives a somewhat different 
account of his death. He tells that after Arthur's eye- 
sight had been spared, he endeavoured to escape from 
captivity, but was accidentally killed in the attempt. 
The story is best given in the dramatist's own words : — 

Arthur. The wall is high ; and yet will I leap down. 
Good ground, be pitiful and hurt me not ! 
There's few, or none, do know me ; if they did, 
This ship-boy's semblance hath disguised me quite. 
I am afraid ; and yet I'll venture it. 
If I get down, and do not break my limbs, 
I'll find a thousand shifts to get away : 
As good to die and go, as die and stay. \Leaps down. 

Oh me ! my uncle's spirit is in these stones — 
Heaven take my soul, and England keep my bones ! [^Dies. 

Arthur's death excited so intense a horror in the 
minds of all that, in two years, all John's French pos- 
sessions were stripped from him, and England was com- 
pletely severed from France. 

This is a most important fact in the history of both 
countries — a step in the progress of each towards national 
unity. 



1. Blanche of Castile, daughter of John's sister 

Eleanor, who had married Alphonso IX. of 
Spain. 

2. Hadwisa of Gloucester, a Saxon lady. 

3. Isabella of Angouleme, the betrothed of tlie 



I Count of Marche, whom she married after 

the death of John. 

4. Arthur was captured at Mirabeau in Poitou ; 

and imprisoned at Falaise in Normandy, 
whence he was removed to Rouen. 

5. King John, Act IV. Scene III. 




<s^^ 



48 THE PLANTAGENETS— JOHN. 



KING JOHN TEMPTING HUBERT ^ TO KILL 

ARTHUR. 

King John, Come hither, Hubert. Oh my gentle 
Hubert, 
We owe thee much ; within this wall of flesh 
There is a soul counts thee her creditor. 
And with advantage ^ means to pay thy love. 
Give me thy hand. I had a thing to say, — 
But I will fit it with some better time. 
By heaven, Hubert, I am almost asham'd 
To say what good respect I have of thee. 

Hubert. I am much bounden ^ to your majesty. 

K. John. Grood friend, thou hast no cause to say so 
yet ; 
But thou shalt have ; and creep time ne'er so slow. 
Yet it shall come, for me to do thee good. 
I had a thing to say ; — but let it go : 
The sun is in the heaven, and the proud day 
Attended with the pleasures of the world. 
Is all too wanton,^ and too full of gawds ^ 
To give me audience. If the midnight bell 
Did, with his iron tongue and brazen mouth, 
Sound one into the drowsy ear of night ; 
If this same were a churchyard where we stand. 
And thou possessed with a thousand wrongs ; 
Or if that thou could'st see me without eyes, 
Hear me without thine ears, and make reply 
Without a tongue, using conceit ^ alone. 
Without eyes, ears, and harmful sound of words ; 
Then, in despite of broad-eyed watchful day, 
I woiild into thy bosom pour my thoughts. 



JOHN TEMPTING HUBERT TO SLAY ARTHUR. 



49 



But ah, I will not : Yet I love tliee well ; 
And, by my troth, I think, thou lov'st me well. 

Hubert So well, that what you bid me undertake. 
Though that my death were adjunct to ^ my act, 
By heaven, I'd do it. 

K. John. Do not I know thou would'st ? 

Good Hubert, Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eye 
On yond'-young boy : I'll tell thee what, my friend. 
He is a very serpent in my way ; 
And, wheresoe'er this foot of mine doth tread, 
He lies before me. Dost thou understand me ? 
Thou art his keeper. 

Hubert. And I will keep him so, 

That he shall not offend your majesty. 

K. John. Death. 

Hubert. My Lord ? 

K. John. A grave. 

Hubert. He shall not live. 

K. John. Enough. 

I could be merry now. Hubert, I love thee ; 
Well, I'll not say what I intend for thee ; 
Remember ! 

Abridged from Shakespeare's '''King John,' 
Act III. Scene III. 



Hubert de Burgh, who (according to the 
account followed by Shakespeare) spared 
young Arthur's life ; and who, by his 
patriotic efforts in the following reign, 
won the admiration and love of his country- 
men. See pages 56, 57. 



2. Advantage, advancement, benefit. 

3. Bounden, obliged. 

4. Wanton, heedless, playful. 

5. Gawds, ornaments or playthings. 

6. Conceit, thought. 

7. Adjunct to, joined to, the consequence of. 




(3J 



D 



5Q 



THE PLANTAGENETS— JOHN. 



JOHN HUMILIATED. 




"^ISPUTB with the Pope.— 
We need not give all tlie 
particulars about this con- 
test here. It is of interest, 
however, as showing how, in 
the Middle Ages,'^ the Pope 
maintained his sway over the 
crowned heads of Europe. 
The subject of dispute was 
the election of an Archbishop 
of Canterbury. The Pope 
appointed Stephen Langton, 
STEPHEN LANGTON. who was tlieu at Rome, 

whose high character was well known, and whom we 
shall soon find acting as a true patriot ; in doing this, 
he claimed supremacy alike over the clergy of England 
and over the king. John openly defied the pontiff". 

The Pope's first step towards subduing the king 
was to publish an Interdict? All religious worship 
ceased,^ churches were closed, the dead were buried in 
unconsecrated ground, no priest was allowed to join 
people in marriage. The nation groaned, but John 
remained indifferent. What cared he for the religious 
feelings of his people ? 

The Pope, finding that John continued obdurate, 
then excommunicated^ him. By this, his subjects were 
absolved from their allegiance, and all faithful believers 
were forbidden to hold any intercourse with him — he 
was accursed, but he still held out. He moved with 
his mercenaries from place to place. Scotland, Ireland, 



JOHN HUMILIATED. 51 

Wales, he successively and ably attacked. Eveiy class 
in the kingdom suffered from the rapacious exactions 
of the tyrant, and all longed for relief. 

At last the Pope dealt a final and fatal blow. He 
deposed John, declared his crown forfeited, and called 
upon Philip of France to carry out the sentence. John, 
who had a most able plan in his mind for the recovery 
of his French possessions, and who knew that his English 
barons were on the point of rebellion behind him, at 
once yielded and that shamefully. 

He gave up his crown to the papal legate,^ and re- 
ceived it back as the Pope's gift. This did more than 
anything else to weaken his influence over his people. 
Saxon kings, Norman conquerors, his father Henry, his 
brother Richard, all had maintained the independence of 
the throne. ''John," cried all Englishmen, " has become 
the Pope's man." ^ . 

Meanness brought its own reward. His skilful 
scheme against France was completely baffled in the great 
battle of Bouvines^ where he and his allies were totally 
defeated. By this disaster to his arms, all his hopes 
of a French empire were shattered. 

John and the Barons : Magna Charta. — It was of 
vast benefit to England that John was routed in his war 
with Philip. Had he returned at the head of a vic- 
torious army, English freedom would have suffered a 
deadly blow ; it could not have been destroyed, but its 
progress might have been kept back for generations. 

As it was, he found the great body of the Clergy and 
of the Barons, filled with a truly patriotic spirit and 
supported by the mass of the Saxons, banded against 
him and determined to exact the rightful liberties of 
every class of the people. 



52 



THE PLANTAGENETS-JOHN. 



On a small island in the Thames, between Staines 
and Windsor, John met the representatives of the 
Barons. He yielded to them as completely as he had 
yielded to the Pope, and was compelled to sign the 




^ 



FACSIMILE FROM Ma\GNA CHARTA -= 



KING JOHN SIGNING THE GREAT CHARTER. 

great charter of English liberty — Magna Charta.^ You 
will find this document fully described in larger his- 
tories ; but there are a few facts about it which you 
should learn even now. 



JOHN HUMILIATED. 53 

In the first place, it demanded nothing new ; it 
merely put in clear language tlie rights wHch had 
belonged to the people from early Saxon times. 

In the second place, it left out no class of English- 
men : the Clergy were to enjoy their privileges ; the 
Barons were to be shielded from all irregular demands 
for money ; all Freemen were to be left undisturbed in 
possession of their rights. Even Serfs'^ were not for- 
gotten — their tools, their means of livelihood, were not 
to be taken from them. 

Further, it established three safeguards of liberty : — 
no man was to be imprisoned except by the law of the 
land or the lawful judgment of his peers ; no tax was to 
be imposed except by the Great Council ; to none was 
justice to be refused, delayed, or sold. 

To one man more than any other England owes this 
monument of liberty, and that is Stephen Langton. 
All honour then to one of the greatest of English 
patriots. As a skilful chemist will extract a healing 
medicine from a poisonous herb, so Langton and the 
Barons won the great safeguard of English freedom 
from the most wicked of English sovereigns. 

John's Death. — John died as he had lived, breaking 
oaths and violating promises„ He at once repudiated 
the charter, raised foreign mercenaries^ and spread 
destruction and misery over all the realmc The barons, 
in disgust, summoned Louis, the son of the king of 
France, to depose John and take his place. 

The French prince landed with an army and held the 
south-east of England ; John, hurrying to meet him, saw 
all his supplies swept away in the Wash.^^ He imme- 
diately died — some say, of grief and rage at his loss ; 
others, of a surfeit of peaches ; a third account declares 



54 



THE PLANTAGENETS— HENRY III. 



tliat he was poisoned. Whatever was the cause of his 
death, he passed away unloved and unregretted.-^-^ 



1. Middle Ages— from the fall of the "Western 

Roman Empire in 476 (which marks the 
close of ancient history) to the capture of 
Constantinople by the Turks and the fall of 
the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453 (which 
mark the beginning of Modern History). 

2. Interdict, a prohibition, a ban. 

3. Except the baptism of the newly-born, and 

the administration of extreme unction to 
the dying. 

4. Excommunicated, put out of the communion 

of the Church. 

5. Legate, one sent with a special commission 

from the Pope. 

6. The word homage signifies 'becoming the 

man of a superior." 



7. Bouvines, near Lille, in the extreme north- 

east of France. The battle was fought in 
1214. 

8. Some say that the whole transaction took 

place in a meadow, called Rmmymede, 
on the Surrey side of the Thames near 
Staines. 

9. Serfs. There were still, in a state of servi- 

tude, large numbers of people who were 
practically slaves. 

10. Wash, an inlet on the east coast of England, 

noted for its swift tides. 

11. The feeling with which John was regarded 

is shown hy the fact that no King of 
England has been named John since his 
time. 



HENRY III— DANGERS TO NATIONAL LIBERTY 

1216-1227. 

H E French Invaders. — 

Henry was only ten years 
of age when he came to 
the throne. He was a boy- 
king, and the government 
was directed for two years 
by the Earl of Pembroke. 

A great danger threa- 
tened England. The French 
prince was master of the 
south-eastern part of the 
realm. He had been called 
over by the barons them- 
selves ; but he had already shown that, if he became 
King of England, the country would have to submit to 
all the troubles of a second conquest. 

Pembroke acted with admirable prudence and in a truly 
English spirit. In the name of the young Henry he 




HENRY III. 



DANGERS TO NATIONAL LIBERTY. 



55 



accepted and confirmed the Charter; ^ he then had the boy 
crowned and obtained the support of the Pope. He also 
wrote wise letters to the discontented barons — appealing 
to their patriotism, urging the claims of an innocent 
young prince who had accepted the Charter, and promis- 
ing forgiveness for any acts against the previous king. 

The result was that Louis was deserted by all his 
English adherents. In spite of this he made a brave 
struggle, but was completely defeated at Lincoln? The 
greater part of his army was captured in the streets, and 




THE ENGLISH FLEET. 



there was little bloodshed ; so easily won, indeed, was 
the victory that the battle was known as the ' Fair of 
Lincoln: Yet upon that very ' Fair ' depended the pro- 
gress of English liberty. 

A fleet bearing a great army was sent from France 
to aid Louis, but it was completely defeated by Hubert 
de Burgh. ^ Every English ship carried with it a quan- 
tity of quicklime ; and when the wind was blowing 
towards the French, this was thrown up into the air so 
as to blind the eyes of the enemy. Showering arrows 
upon the confused mass, the English boarded their 



56 THE PLANTAGENETS— HENRY IH 

vessels and destroyed the greater number. This was 
the first great English naval victory since the Conquest. 

Louis was now glad to agree to a treaty and return 
to France. The patriotic Pembroke, who had acted so 
wisely, died shortly afterwards, amidst the universal 
sorrow of his grateful fellow-countrymen. 

The Charter in Peril. — Two great dangers still 
threatened English national liberty during the youth of 
the Boy-King. 

The first of these was the relation between the crown 
and the Papal See. You will remember that John had 
handed over his crown to the Pope ; John's son Henry 
was, accordingly, regarded at Eome as the Pope's ward ; 
and Pandulf, the recently-elected Bishop of Norwich, 
was sent over as legate with instructions to assume the 
guardianship of the young king and the supreme 
authority during his minority. But the noble patriot, 
Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, stood 
forth as the champion of independent national govern- 
ment; he used his influence with the Pope for the 
recall of the legate, and obtained a promise that no 
other should be appointed as long as he lived. 

The second danger arose from the actual presence in 
England of multitudes of aliens, who had been the mer- 
cenaries of John and still held positions of influence 
and wealth. These men hated the Charter, despised 
English law, and had no sympathy with the people. 
Huhert de Burgh, who had so skilfully won the great 
naval victory, succeeded in driving them from their 
castles. He thus, for a time, destroyed the foreign influ- 
ence which was so hurtful to England's true progress. 
In all his acts, Hubert firmly upheld the Great Charter 
of liberty. He was therefore loved by the people. 



DANGERS TO NATIONAL LIBERTY. 57 

The Return of the Aliens. — Henry, who was now of 
age, soon showed that he was not in spirit a true 
Enghsh king. He revived the hopeless policy of Henry 
II., and feebly sought to win back the French provinces. 
As he had none of the ability of his race, what was 
with them a fixed purpose became with him a weak 
wish, showing itself in a childish liking for all foreigners. 
He was also extremely fond of show, and his ideal of 
power was perfectly satisfied so long as he could shower 
costly gifts on the French favourites who thronged in 
thousands into the country. 

The noble work of Pembroke, Langton, and De Burgh 
was gradually undone. The patriotic Hubert was 
hurled from power. Even his life was threatened. To 
save himself he fled for refuge to a chapel, but was 
dragged forth from it with sacrilegious violence ; and he 
was rescued from death or life-long imprisonment only 
by the firmness of the English barons. 

An interesting story shows how the people loved 
those who suffered for their liberties. A blacksmith, 
ordered to put irons upon the captured De Burgh, cried 
out : "Is not this that true and noble Hubert who has 
so often saved England from foreigners ; and who has 
made England England ? Never will I put irons on 
my country's saviour ! " 

Wave after wave of foreigners rolled upon England's 
shores. The king took into favour the great enemy of 
Hubert, one Peter des Roches, a native of Poitou ; with 
him came a crowd of his fellow Poitevins.^ This man 
openly declared that the English king had far more 
absolute power over peers and people than the French 
king had. " The charter," said he, " was got by force ; 
it should be torn to pieces and thrown to the wind," 



58 



THE PLANTAGENETS— HENEY III. 



Tlie same story was repeated again and again. 
Henry's marriage with Eleanor of Provence saw the 
wealth and power of England lavished npon the new 
qneen's relatives and countrymen. The king's mother, 
who had after John's death married a French count/ now 
sent over her sons, Henry's half-brothers. These princes 
were at once raised to high positions, and proved them- 
selves the most insolent enemies of England and freedom. 

With foreign influence thus supreme, the old leaders 
of the patriotic party dead, and the people impoverished 
by ruinous taxation, the cause of English national liberty 
seemed well-nigh hopeless. 



1. The Great Charter was confirmed no less 

than thirty-eight times. 

2. In 1217. 

.3. Hubert de Burgh. See note 1, page 49. The 
battle took place off the Isle of Thanet, on 



St. Bartholomew's Day, 1217. 

4. Poitevin, pronounced Fwat-vang. 

5. See note 3, page 47. 

6. Benefices, church livings, inferior to those 

of bishops, conferred by patrons. 



DEFENCE OF THE CHARTER : THE GOOD 
SIR SIMON. 




ROGRESS of National or 

English Party. — Against 

_ this invasion of aliens, who 

if were so hostile to English 

law and liberty, all that was 

J) patriotic in the Church, all 

■,^that was vigorous in the 

Baronage, all that was manly 

in the Saxons, combined in 

^ defence of England. Thus, 

- folly 



once more, 



the 



of 



u^l king but helped forward the 
SIMON DE MONTFORT. uatioual causCo 

Further, the Great Council of the nation, now gaining 



DEFENCE OF THE CHARTER. 59 

the name of Parliament/ was able to prevent any serious 
violation of the Charter. It compelled Henry, whenever 
he asked for money, to confirm that great oath to 
respect the liberty of the people. 

One noble patriot went much further. This was Sir 
Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. This great man 
was the first leader who was really animated by the 
' spirit of the age.' ^ He saw that the safest way of 
making laws and securing liberty was to get the advice 
and consent of the people themselves in the proceedings 
of Parliament. The Nobles admired him ; and they 
supported him. so long as he was fighting for the Great 
Council of English Prelates and Barons against foreign 
intrusion and kingly illegality. 

Again and again they deserted him when he went 
further and championed the cause of the lower orders. 
Their betrayal caused his death. He fell a martyr to his 
affection for the people. They loved him. ' The Good Sir 
Simon,' ' Sir Simon the Just — the Eighteous,' were their 
favourite names for him. All the writers of his age, the 
thinkers, revered him. '' He loves right and hates wrong," 
writes one ; ^' the shield and defender of the kingdom, 
the enemy and expeller of aliens," says another. 

One other element of progress remains to be men- 
tioned. There took place in this reign a religious 
revival. Communities of Friars were established. These 
men were sworn to poverty, and in fact were true and 
earnest preachers.^ They laboured among the very 
poorest of the people, teaching them that our Saviour 
died for all men and that all were eq;iial in the sight 
of God. This kind of teaching did much to help on 
the cause of freedom so nobly championed by Simon de 
Montfort. 

a 



6o THE PLANTAGENETS— HENRY III. 



Triumph of the National Party. — The exactions of 
the king, with the insolence of the ahens, increased 
year by year. At last the Barons determined to bear 
it no longer. At a meeting of the Great Council at 
Oxford, known as the Mad Parliament y^ they appeared 
in arms and appointed twenty-four representatives to 
secure reforms. They also chose a council of fifteen to 
advise the king. 

These fifteen drew up a famous decree called the 
Provisions of Oxford. These ' Provisions ' were the first 
public acts issued in the English language.^ Eng- 
land was determined to be England^ not a province of 
Prance. The enactments were important and decisive. 
The Eoyal Castles were to be. placed in the hands of 
Englishmen, and Parliament was to meet three times a 
year. 

The king swore to obey, but his half-brothers and 
the rest of the aliens resisted. The determined Barons, 
however, compelled them to surrender the castles and 
leave the country. 

The Pope absolved the king from his oath, and the 
dispute was referred to the King of France. The 
decision was in favour of Henry, and the Barons offered 
to yield everything but the ' Provision ' against the 
employment of foreigners. This the king would not 
accept. 

A Civil war was the result. A great battle was 
fought at Lewes ^ in Sussex. Prince Edward, a splendid 
soldier, attacked the wing opposed to him — men from 
London, the citizens of which city had insulted his 
mother.^ He routed them, and followed in hot pursuit. 
When he returned he found that De Montfort had com- 
pletely defeated the rest of the royal army, and had 



I 



DEFENCE OF THE CHARTER. 



6t 



taken tlie king prisoner. He, too, was forced to sur- 
render. 

The good Sir Simon was now the real ruler of the 
country. He showed his truly patriotic spirit by calling 
a Parliament in which all classes of the people were 




NOBLE AND PEASANT IN FEUDAL TIMES. 

represented. As in the Great Council of former times, 
there came the Chief Barons and the Higher Clergy. 
Further, reviving an old custom, he summoned two 
Knights to be sent by each county. But there were for 
the first time representatives of the Burghers of the 



62 THE PLANTAGENETS— HENRY III. 



realm, two from each city. This assembly, representa- 
tive of knights and burghers, which met in the year 
1265, deserves to be called the First House of Commons. 

Death of the Patriot Earl, 1265. — Prince Edward 
escaped by a very ingenious trick. While out riding 
with his keepers, he induced them to race against one 
another till their horses were thoroughly tired. He had 
kept his own horse — a very swift one — quite fresh, and 
galloped away easily from his guard. He at once set 
himself to gather an army to fight for his father. 

Many of the Barons had no sympathy with De Mont- 
fort's love for the Commons. They now deserted him 
and joined the prince. Edward, thus strengthened, de- 
feated De Montfort's son,^ who was marching somewhat 
tardily to join the earl in South Wales. 

De Montfort lay with a comparatively small army 
at Evesham on the Avon in Worcestershire. He was 
waiting for the son whom he would never see again; 
and in the early dawn of an August morning, saw a 
well-ordered army approaching with the familiar ban- 
ners of his friends. Only when too late, looking down 
upon them from a high church-tower, he observed tlia,t 
Edward's standard mingled with the rest. 

As the skilful arrangement of the enemy showed 
itself, he exclaimed, ''Ah, that is not your own, I taught 
you how to fight." When the overpowering numbers 
of the foe became evident, he sighed, " God have mercy 
upon our souls, for our bodies are the prince's." 

His friends thronged round him — he urging them to 
save themselves, they refusing to flee. 

" Father," said his son Henry, " do you escape to 
fight again for England, while I keep back the foe and 
die for you." 



I 



DEFENCE OF THE CHARTEU. 



^Z 



Not one among that band of heroes would desert the 
others. The battle began. While Prince Edward was 
securing the safety of his father, who had been with De 
Montfort's army and had been nearly slain, the enemies 
of the patriot gathered round him. He fought ' like a 
giant.' One by one his comrades fell around, but he 
' stood like a tower.' Wielding his two-handed sword, 
he cleared for himself a space in which to die, and sank 
overpowered by sheer numbers. His son was found 
lying by his side. Thus was slain the noblest of the 
old English patriots. 

Not in vain did he die. The people wept for him, 
and forgot not his teaching. Prince Edward, too, revered 
and mourned for him ; love for his father alone had 
caused him to oppose the warrior- statesman. The good 
Sir Simon had not only taught his conqueror to fight, 
but had inspired him with his own regard for law, and 
had convinced him that the people themselves should 
have a voice in the councils of the nation. 

During the rest of Henry's reign, there was peace. 
The Commons were not again summoned to Parliament, 
but the Barons held firmly to the main points for which 
they had fought- — England ' for the English, and the 
Charter to be obeyed. 

Prince Edward set out with his bride to take part in 
what proved to be the last crusade, and the close of the 
reign found him still away from England. 



1. A national party under Simon de Montfort 

was formed in 1238, from wliicli time the 
National Assembly is known both in re- 
cords and history by the name oi Parlia- 
ment. 

2. Spirit of the age. See page 14. 

8. Friars. The preaching friars of this revival 
belonged to the two orders of Dominicans 
and Franciscans— known in England as the 
Bbick and the Grey Friars from the coloul: 
of their dress. 



4. Assembled in 1258. 

5. These provisions, along with the Magna 

Charta, were proclaimed in three lan- 
guages— Lntin, French, and English. 

fi. Fought in 1264. 

t. The Londoners had compelled Eleanor to 
leave London, and had pelted her with 
stones as she was being rowed up ths 
Thames. 

•8i At Kenilworth, De Montfort's chief strong* 
hold, in Warwickshire. 



64 



THE PLAKTAGENETS— EDWARD 1. 




EDWARD AND THE ASSASSIN. 



EDWARD I.— THE GREATEST OF THE 
PLANTAGENETS. 

NOBLE Wife.— The Cru- 
sade^ whicli Edward joined, 
the eighth and last, proved 
a complete failure. The 
religious fervour which had 
led to these repeated expedi- 
tions to Palestine now died 
cut, and the Holy City has 
been to this day left in the 
hands of unbelievers.^ 

A romantic incident in 
this Crusade has often formed 
the theme of poem and pic- 
ture. One sultry evening, after the exhausting heat of 
a summer's day in Palestine^ Edward was resting in his 




EDWARD I. 



THE GREATEST OF THE PLANTAGENETS. 65 

tent. A messenger arrived with a letter from tlie Emir^ 
of Jaflfa,^ from whom sucli communications were so 
frequent that the man was at once allowed to enter. 
As Edward, without rising from his couch, was reading 
the letter, the treacherous Arab stabbed him. The Prince 
sprang to his feet and struck the assassin ^ to the ground 
with a stool which stood beside his bed. 

Although the wound itself was not serious, yet all 
were afraid that the dagger might have been poisoned. 
If that were the case, nothing could avert Edward's fate. 
Yet, one would risk death for his sake — for love laughs 
at danger and gladly sacrifices itself to save the loved 
one — Edward's noble wife, Eleanor of Castile, kneeling 
down beside his couch and applying her lips to the 
wound, sought to draw the poison from it. All believed 
she saved her husband's life, and Edward repaid her 
devotion with life-long affection. 

' They were in Italy on their homeward journey when 
they received tidings that they had lost their two little 
children, and then that Henry, the king, was dead.^ 
" God can give me children in their stead," Edward 
mourned, '' but no other father shall I ever see." 

Character and Aims. — Edward was undoubtedly the 
flower of the Plantagenets. He had the same strictly 
legal mind as Henry IL, equalled that king in energy, 
and surpassed him as a lawgiver and statesman — his 
views were more enlightened, and his aims more attain- 
able. Not inferior to Richard in valour, he was much 
his superior as a general ; finally, he possessed all John's 
ability without a trace of his foul heartlessness. He had, 
however, a good deal of the passionate temper of his race, 
and on one or two occasions acted very cruelly. On the 
other hand, his bearing towards his father, his wife, and 
(31 K 



66 



THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD I. 



his children, proves that he had a warm and loving 
heart. 

Regarding Edward as a ruler, we find that his aims 
show him to have been a true disciple of Simon de 
Montfort. He was animated by the same love of Eng- 
land which had so nobly manifested itself in Barons 
as well as Commons during the preceding reign, and he 
was fully prepared to carry out the teaching of the dead 
patriot — ' a parliament for the people.' He showed 
himself determined to establish good and orderly govern- 
ment by wise and beneficent laws, to guard English 
interests, and to foster the national spirit. The one 
defect in his plan was that he wished to accomplish 
these admirable ends by a despotic monarchy^ subjected 
only to the restrictions of law. 

To understand Edward's aims fully, we must also 
consider him as a king bent, like his great-grandfather, 
upon extending the bounds of his kingdom. In this 
aspect, Edward has been described as ' a man with an 
idea.' Although he still held possessions in the south- 
west of France, he had given up the vain dream of an 
Anglo-French Empire. Animated by a truly national 
spirit, he confined his ambition to the island in which 
he lived. He saw that England, Scotland, and Wales 
were fitted to form one great country ; and to effect 
their union became the master-thought of his life. 



n 



1. Begun by St. Louis of France in 1270. 

2. Palestine still forms part of the Mahometan 

Empire of Turkey. 

3. Emir. This title was originally given to all 

the descendants of Mahomet. 

4. Jaffa, the Joppa of Scripture, the sea-port of 

Jerusalem. 

5. Assassin, the name applied to the followers 

of a chief called the ' Old Man of the Moun- 
tain,' at whose bidding they were ready to 



do the most desperate deed. The word 
comes from the Arabic hashish, an opiate 
made of hemp leaves. 

Edward was the first of our sovereigns, the 
beginning of whose reign was dated not 
from the coronation day, but from the 
death of the preceding monarch. 

Despotic monarchy, i.e., absolute monarchy, 
one in which all tlie powers of government 
are vested in the monarch. 



THE GEEAT LAWGIVER. 67 

THE GREAT LAWGIVER. 

THE House of Commons. — Edward had been deeply 
impressed with. De Montfort's scheme of an 
Assembly representing the three Estates^ of the realm — 
Barons, Clergy, and Commons. The first complete Parlia- 
ment was not held indeed till i 295, but the very earliest 
statute of the reign declares that it was passed with the 
consent of the ' commonalty.' 

One great motive of the king in calling the inhabi- 
tants of the towns as well as those of the shires to send 
representatives to the Great Council, was the need of 
money for his wars. Up to this time, the sovereign 
had mainly depended for supplies upon the Barons and 
the Clergy. The cities, meanwhile, had been steadily 
increasing in prosperity. That unrivalled commercial 
spirit which has carried the British flag into every part 
of the ' great world of waters,' had begun to manifest 
itself; and the burghers were now almost as able as the 
nobles to contribute to the expenses of government. 

Edward felt that by far the best way of drawing 
revenue from the growing wealth of the cities was by the 
willing consent of men chosen by the citizens them- 
selves. He held rightly that all who benefited by the 
power of England should help to support the govern- 
ment ; but he saw clearly that it was but just that those 
who had to pay should be consulted about the measures 
for which the money was required. He in fact accepted 
a principle which became famous long afterwards — 
" Taxation without representation is tyranny." ^ 

The King- and the Law. — The great Plantagenet was 
a sincere upholder of just law and equitable government. 
The first Act of Parliament ^ passed in his reign revived 



6S THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD I. 

the old constitution of the country. Its very object was 
'' to awake those languid laws which had long been lulled 
to sleep ; " and it expressly limited the sums which the 
king could legally claim by feudal law. 

When his impatient temper had led Edward to seize 
from the merchants what he required for war, instead of 
waiting for the consent of Parliament, he acknowledged 
that he had done wrong and promised never to break 
the law again. This is one of the very points of this 
monarch's greatness. It was not that he was faultless, for 
he often acted very passionately and harshly ; but, when 
he saw his mistake and where he had done wrong, he was 
ready to express his sorrow and to strive to do better. 

The Great Charter had noble protectors in the Barons, 
and grateful supporters in the Commons. Edward, who 
might at times have forgotten his youthful admiration of 
that safeguard of liberty, was, therefore, brought not 
only to ratify* it again and again, but even to extend it. 
These repeated confirmations firmly established the 
principle that no tax whatever should be levied without 
the consent of Parliament. Kings did at times after 
this endeavour to exact arbitrary payments from the 
people ; but from this time this was known by all to be 
illegal, and no king for three hundred years dared to 
make a habit of it. The first who tried to do so was 
the unfortunate Charles I., and the result was that he lost 
both his crown and his life in the attempt. 

It was a good thing for England that, even under a 
generous king like Edward, its liberties had brave 
guardians. For this able prince wished, as has been 
said, to rule as a despotic monarch subject only to the law. 
He did not like that laws should be made ^ by the 
counsel and consent of Parliament ; ' he preferred them to 



THE GEEAT LAWGIVER. 69 

be enacted ' hy the King ' with merely ' the advice of his 
Council and the assent of Parliament.'^ 

But not even to so great a ruler as Edward, would 
the barons yield. He turned in vain to seek the support 
of the citizens against the nobles, for the Saxons or 
English people were now becoming strong. They 
were most willing to help their king, except when he 
sought to deprive them of their liberties. One incident 
will show what the spirit of the Commons really was. 

In the year 129 1, after Edward had defeated 
Wallace at the battle of Falkirk, the barons insisted 
that Edward should fulfil a promise Tie had made to 
ratify the charter and grant certain additions to it. 
After much delay, he gave the required confirmation, 
but added the words ^saving the rights of the Crown.' 
The barons were so deeply incensed that they left the 
royal presence ; and with ' Kemember Eunnymede ' ^ as 
their stern watchword, they began to prepare them- 
selves to deal with this king as their fathers had dealt 
with the faithless John. 

If you think for a moment, you will see why the 
nobles were so bitterly opposed to these words. The 
whole dispute with Edward and his predecessors had 
been as to what were the true rights of the Crown. 
Many powers that the king held to be his ^ rights,' the 
Barons, Clergy, and Commons held to be ' wrongs' ' acts 
of tyranny,' — powers which had never legally belonged to 
the Crown, but had been forcibly seized by it. Thus, to put 
such words into a new law, could only serve to keep up 
the old dispute, and would leave matters quite unsettled. 

Edward thought he would on this occasion get the 
help of the Commons. Accordingly, he ordered the 
Charter to be read at the Cross of St. Paul's in London. 



70 



THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWAED I. 



As clause after clause was heard confirming tlie rights 
and liberties of tlie people, enthusiastic cheers were given 




ENGLISH MEK-AT-ARMS AT FALKIKK. 

by the mighty mass of eager citizens who pressed 
around. But when the ominous words ' saving the 
rights of the Crown ' were uttered, a torrent of groans 
and hisses burst from the indignant throng. 

The king was too prudent to resist Barons and Com- 
mons combined. He at once yielded, and fully confirmed 
the Charter without the hated qualification. 



THE GREAT LAWGIVER. 



71 



When Edward came to the throne, the rural districts 
of England were in a very disorderly condition. Bands 
of desperadoes, called ' Trailbatons ' or ' Cudgel-carriers,' 
filled the country — outlaws, who not only robbed and 
murdered on their own account, but were prepared to 
sell their services for the perpetration of any outrage, 
however criminal. 

To put an end to this state of affairs, Edward passed 
a great law, thoroughly organising each county both to 
defend the realm from without and keep order within 
its bounds. The courts of law were re-arransfed and an 
efficient police established. Among other regulations, 
no bushes or trees were to be allowed to grow near the 
roads ; it was feared that these would afford shelter to 
lurking highwaymen. In this way, by the strict 
administration of law, order was at last secured. 

Thus, you see, that this great ruler not only passed 
many excellent new measures, but strove to carry out 
the existing laws firmly and justly. When he found, 
for example, that the judges were accused of accepting 
bribes, he had them brought to trial, and severely 
punished those found guilty. 

In these and many other ways, Edward nobly main- 
tained his claim to the title of the English Justinian '^ or 
Lawgiver. 



1. Estates, see note 8, page 22. 

2. This was the motto of the founders of the 

United States of America in their dispute 
with the mother-country. 

3. At that time, King, Lords, and Commons sat 

in one chamber — they began to occupy 
separate chambers in the reign of Edward 
III. The modern principle, that every 
measure must receive the consent of a 
majority in both Houses of Parliament and 
the assent of the sovereign before it be- 
came law, was not finally established until 
the reign of Edward IV. 



4. Ratify, literally, to make sure, to confirm. 

5. Edward actually altered the words " by the 

counsel and consent of Parliament," to " by 
the King with the advice of his Council and 
the assent of Parliament." 

6. Bunnymede, see page 52. 

7. Justinian, the Eastern Roman Emperor who 

in 529 and 534 issued a comi)lete code of the 
Roman law. Napoleon the great did the 
same for France. It has not yet been done 
for England. 



n 



THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWAED I. 




HOW WALES WAS UNITED TO ENGLAND. 

HE People of Wales. — 

Before speaking of what 

is called the Conquest of 

Wales, it ■\70uld be well to 

recall what we have already 

learned about its people. 

There were at this time 
in England three distinct 
races, each having its own 
language. The great mass 
of the population was of 
Saxon and Danish origin, 
LLEWELLYN. spcaklug what was really in 

all its essential features the English tongue ; the Norman 
conquerors used a French dialect ; finally, the descen- 
dants of the old Britons spoke Cymric, or, as we call it, 
Welsh. It is also worth remembering that most of the 
learned books were still written in the Roman or Latin 
language.'^ 

The people of Wales were thus the descendants of 
those ancient Oymri ^ who had so bravely opposed the 
Bomans, and had struggled so heroically against the 
Saxon hosts. They now loved their hills as much 
as their fathers had loved the richer lands they had 
lost, and were ready to meet with undaunted courage 
the whole power of the greatest of the Plant agenet 
Kings. 

These brave mountaineers were in no respect a bar- 
barous people. Their traditional hero was that ' peer- 
less Prince Arthur/ whom our great poet Spenser ^ has 



HOW WALES WAS UNITED TO ENGLAND 



73 



taken as the model of a perfect kniglit and gentleman,* 
and whom Tennyson has revealed to us as his ideal of a 
noble Christian king.^ They excelled in music and 
poetry, and much of the gracefulness and beauty of 
English literature is directly due to the vivid imagina- 
tion and quick wit of the Welsh. 

Their richest outbursts of song had flowed forth during 
the fierce struggle with 
the Saxons, and its 
most pathetic strains 
had wailed over the 
tomb of the stainless 
Arthur. But never 
had the harp ceased 
to keep alive the spirit 
of freedom in their 
hearts ; and now again, 
during their struggle 
with Edward, a group 
of noble bards ani- 




«.BALZ1EL.^' 



A WELSH HAEPEK. 



mated their patriotism, preserved the glory of their 
victories, and wept over their defeat. 

The Gathering of the Storm.— You have already 
read of Edward's grand idea of uniting into one great 
empire the different parts of the island of Great Britain. 
The first step towards the carrying out of this project 
seemed to him to be the union of Wales with Ens'land. 
He was anxious to accomplish his purpose as gently as 
possible-; and he would have been quite content if 
Llewellyn,^ who was then Prince of Wales, had agreed 
to become his vassal and rank along with (or even a 
little above) the great feudal Barons of England. 

But the Welsh had never willingly submitted to tho 



74 THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD I. 

former Saxon kings ; they liad always struggled for 
freedom as their birtliriglit, and tliey saw no reason why 
the defeat of their old enemies should make them the 
subjects of the conquerors. Again and again had the 
attempts of the Norman sovereigns to enslave them 
failed. Nay, had not this same Edward, in his father's 
reign, been baffled in a fruitless endeavour to subdue 
them ? How could Llewellyn, who had admired the 
great Simon de Montfort, and who was betrothed to the 
daughter of that noble patriot, do homage to one whom 
he regarded both as the enemy of his country and the 
slayer of his friend ? 

Whispers of old prophecies filled the mountain air. 
Had it not been said by an ancient seer that a Welsh 
prince would be crowned in London when money was 
made round,^ and was not that true now ? Did not Arthur 
still live in Avalon,^ and had it not been promised that 
he would come down to lead his people to victory ? 
Who could tell that the long-looked-for time had not 
come when the Cymri would rush down from the hills 
and sweep the fertile plains which had belonged to their 
fathers, driving Saxon and Norman alike back to their 
homes across the sea ? 

The pulse of this free people beat high, and they were 
ready to fight and die rather than surrender the liberty 
which was dearer to them than life. 

The Storm Bursts. — After repeated but vain attempts 
to win over the Welsh prince, Edward proceeded to use 
stronger measures. He captured Llewelyn's affianced 
wife, Eleanor de Montfort,^ and refused to give her up. 
The prince himself was declared a traitor, and war was 
declared in the winter of the year 1276. 

It is strange and sad how often, in wars of indepen- 



HOW WALES WAS UNITED TO ENGLAND. 



75 



dence, treason within aids tlie attack from without. 
Arthur's nephew, Mordred, had been the deadly foe of 
that patriot king ; Harold's brother, Tostig, aided in the 
overthrow of English freedom ; and Llewellyn's brother, 
David, now acted as a recreant to his country, and joined 
the invaders with all his adherents. 

Edward's army gathered at Worcester; and the 
Welsh prince, weakened by the desertion of the traitor, 
was gradually driven back towards Snowdon by the over- 
whelming force of the enemy. Meanwhile, a fleet from 
the Cinque Ports ^^ cut Llewellyn off from Anglesea; 
and thus the patriotic defenders were literally starved into 
submission. 

At first very heavy penalties were inflicted upon the 
conquered prince ; but in justice to Edward, it must be 
said that the most humiliating of these were one by one 
removed. Llewellyn was left in entire possession of 
Anglesea, and received several baronies round Snowdon. 
Finally, his marriage to Eleanor de Montfort was cele- 
brated in England with great pomp. David, who was 
made an earl and liberally rewarded, remained in 
England. Edward thus seemed to have attained his 
purpose without much bloodshed, and was, no doubt, 
thoroughly satisfied. 



1. There are four literatures ia the early periods 

of our history : — Celtic, including Welsh 
and Gaelic; Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman, 
and Latin. 

2. Cymri, the actual Welsh form is Cymru. 

3. Spenser was one of the greatest of the Eliza- 

bethan poets. 

4. His chief work is the "Fcerie Queen." In 

a letter to Sir Walter Raleigh, he clearly 
explains his purpose in taking Arthur as 
his hero. 

5. Tennyson, the present poet Laureate, in the 

"Idylls of the King." 

6. This is that Llewellyn of whom the following 

touching story is told : On returning home 
one evening from the hunt, his noble dog 



Gelert, whom he sadly missed during the 
sports of the day, bounded to meet him. 
The fangs of the dog were streaming with, 
blood, and a strange uneasiness caused 
Llewelyn to hurry to the cradle of his 
infant son. The cradle was overturned, 
the child could nowhere be seen. Without 
a moment's thought, Llewellyn leapt to 
the conclusion that the dog had killed his 
son, and instantly stabbed it to the heart. 
At that moment the infant's cry was heard 
from beneath, and pulling .aside the cover- 
ings of the cradle, Llewellyn fotmd the 
babe unharmed. But by it lay a gaunt 
wolf which the faithful Gelert had killed. 
Until this time halfpennies and farthinga 



76 



THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD I. 



were made by clipping the penny into 
halves a,nd fourths. Tliis was now forbid- 
den, and special round coins ware made 
instead. 

Avalon, the fabled land where, according 
to the old legends, Arthur was said to 
dwell until the time came to deliver his 
race. 

Eleanor, daughter of Sir Simon de Mont- 
fort. See pp. 58-63. 



10. Cinque Ports were the five ports of Sand- 
wich, Deal, Dover, Hythe, and Romney, 
on the Kentisli coast. To these were after 
added Rye, Winchelsea, and Hastings in 
the adjoining county of Sussex. These 
were at that time the most important 
southern ports, and were bound by charter 
to provide a certain number of ships for 
the defence of the realm. 



HOW WALES WAS UNITED TO ENGLAND 

(co7iti7iued). 

Renewal of the Struggle. — For a year or two all 
went well. Edward strove to rule justly. He removed 
his soldiers from the country, leaving only a few gar- 
risons in the castles ; and he extended to Wales the 
same strict but impartial government he had imposed 
upon England. But the Welsh had always been ac- 
customed to their own laws, and felt it very bitter to 
have new ones forced upon them by an alien. They 
could see no good in these strange enactments, and 
murmured deeply. The roads, too, which Edward 
ordered to be cut through their country, they regarded 
with jealous suspicion and aversion. They were ready 
once more to throw off the yoke which galled them so 
sorely. 

David, who had played the traitor before, struck the 
first blow. No doubt, shame must have touched him 
that he, the son of a race of patriots and kings, should 
have lifted his sword against the freedom of his country. 
In the midst of a raging storm, he suddenly seized the 
castle of Hawarden,-^ where the English governor resided, 
and hurried that functionary off to the hills. On all 
sides, the passionate mountaineers rose, and the English 
settlers were slaughtered. Llewellyn having joined his 



HOW WALES WAS UNITED TO ENGLAND. 



77 



brother, the castles of Rhuddlan"'' and Flint were quickly 
captured. They advanced towards Chester, destroying 
all before them. 

Edward, who could hardly be convinced that the 
conquest he had thought so secure was lost, that 
Llewellyn as well as David was in arms, and that all 
the work would have to be done over again, set himself 
resolutely to the task. 
At first, his forces 
suffered terribly in 
the severe winter 
weather. One divi- 
sion was cut to pieces 
while crossing^ from 
Anglesea to Caer- 
narvon, and Edward 
himself was several 
times repulsed. 

Close of the Strug- 
gle. — But the deter- 
mined Plantagenet 
only made his prepa- 
rations the more care- 
fully. He called upon 
the whole of England 
to make a grand national effort. The Archbishop of Can- 
terbury pronounced sentence of excommunication against 
the rebels, parliament granted liberal supplies, and forces 
were gathered from all sides. Yet the Welsh fought 
very bravely ; and had it not been for the accidental 
fall of Llewellyn, Edward's purpose might have been 
foiled in Wales as it was afterwards in Scotland. 
Mountaineer was set on mountaineer — Basques^ from the 




WALES. 



78 



THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD I. 



Pyrenees being brought over to drive the Welsh from 
their strongholds — and woodmen cut down the forests 
which gave shelter to the insurgents. As the weather 
improved, Edward collected a great army near Caer- 
marthen to attack from the south ; and he ordered the 
standard of the ' Golden Dragon ' (dear to the memories 




THE WYE. 



of the Britons) to be borne in front, as a sign that mercy 
would be shown to all who sought it. 

Leaving his brother to guard the passes of the North, 
Llewellyn hurried to meet this southern force. He 
prepared to oppose the advance of the enemy on the 
steep banks of the rapid river Wye.* Alas ! all his hopes 
were in vain. While he was resting after a weary day's 



HOW WALES WAS UNITED TO ENGLAND. 79 

marcliing, an Englisb. force surprised the few Welsh, sol- 
diers who surrounded the hut where he slept. Roused 
from his slumbers by the clash of arms, he rushed hastily 
out to join in the fray, was suddenly encountered by an 
English knight, and fell fighting for the mountain-land 
he had loved so well.^ 

Not till the dead were being stripped of their arms 
by the victors was the patriot-prince recognised. His 
head was cut off and sent to the English king as a 
proof that his enemy had fallen. The Welsh prophecy 
was mockingly fulfilled when the people of London saw 
the ghastly head of the dead hero borne past them 
crowned with ivy. 

David still held out among the mountains, but was at 
last betrayed to the English king and condemned to the 
cruel death of a traitor. Wales was then finally united 
to England. 

The First Prince ofWales. — The closing scene of the 
conquest has often been told. Edward, anxious to win 
the Welsh chiefs to a willing submission, promised to 
give them a prince who had been born in Wales and 
who could not speak a word of English. When they 
came to Caernarvon Castle to pay their homage to such 
a prince, the king presented to them his infant son, 
Edward, who had been born in that very fortress where 
they were assembled, who knew nothing of the hated 
language of their enemies, and who had done the Welsh 
no injury. This babe, it is said, the chiefs acknowledged 
as Prince of Wales *" — a title which has always been borne 
since by the eldest sons of the English kings. 

Thus ended the great struggle. Considering the size 
of Wales and the great power of Edward, all must admit 
that the Welsh fought most bravely for their freedom. 



8o 



THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD I. 



Althougli a part of England, their country has always 
remained practically free. They still speak the old 
language, and have the same independent spirit as their 
fathers. Of no part of Great Britain are the people 
more peaceable and contented ; and this is largely due 
to the firm manliness with which they have at all times 
maintained their rights, and the willing respect they 
have always paid to just laws. 






1. Hawarden and Rhuddlan, in Flint, 

2. Crossing tlie Menai Straits. 

3. Basques, tlie descendants of tlie old inliabi- 

,tants of Spain, 



4. Wye, a Tjeautiful river in South Wales, some- 
times called the Rhone of England, 
5 Llewellyn died in 1282. 
C. This took place in 1284 



THE SCOTTISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 

EDWARD, Overlord of Scotland. — Alexander III. 
of Scotland died in 1286,^ and was succeeded by 
his grandchild,^ a little girl of two years. Edward at 
once seized the opportunity of fully carrying out the 
great national project of which the Conquest of Wales 
formed but the first part, and sought to arrange a 
marriage between the young heiress and his son. The 
proposal was gladly agreed to by the Scots, and it 
seemed likely that the union of Scotland and England 
would be effected without bloodshed. 

All was changed, however, by the death of the child- 
queen in 1290. At once, numerous claimants for the 
vacant throne started up ; and all seemed willing to 
leave the decision of the matter to Edward. That king 
accordingly summoned a meeting of the Scottish nobility;^ 
but, before settling the question of the succession to the 
crown, he put forward his own claim to be recognised as 
Overlord * of Scotland. 



THE SCOTTISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. Si 

Now most of tlie competitors were not Scots but 
Normans, and they all readily acknowledged Edward's 
superiority. He then decided in favour of John Baliol, 
a powerful baron of the north of England.^ 

Baliol soon found how difficult it was at once to 
satisfy the proud spirit of his new subjects and the 
exacting demands of the haughty Overlord to whom he 
had done homage ; and, at last, his nobles forced him to 
make an alliance with Erance and prepare for war with 
England. 

Edward at once marched northwards to subdue one 
whom he looked upon as an ungrateful and rebellious 
vassal. Success attended his arms. He captured the 
strong castle of Berwick, defeated the Scotch army in a 
great battle at DmibaTj and sent Baliol as a captive to 
the Tower. 

He at the same time removed to England the Scottish 
regalia^ and coronation-stone.'^ This stone was called 
the ' Stone of Destiny,' and it had been prophesied that 
a Scottish sovereign would reign wherever it was set up. 
It is now under the coronation chair at Westminster 
Abbey ; and our gracious Queen is, as the Scots proudly 
boast, a descendant of their old line of kings. 

The Hero of Scotland. — In all his dealings with 
Scotland, Edward believed that he was acting in strict 
accordance with feudal law. He was convinced of the 
justice of his claim, had made an agreement with the 
harons of the country, and it seemed to him that nothing 
more was necessary. But, although many Normans 
held possessions in the south of Scotland, there had 
been no ' conquest ' of that country as there had been 
of England, most of the inhabitants of the West and 
North were not even of English race,^ and the "people 



82 



THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWAED I. 



felt tliat tliey had a right to be heard in any agreement 
concerning the government of their country. 

Accordingly, a leader of the Commons of Scotland 
soon appeared — one who had made no oath of allegiance 
to Edward, and would never yield with life the inde- 
pendence of his native land. This was Sir William 
Wallace, the knight of EUerslie,^ who for some time 
carried on a guerilla warfare against the English in- 
vaders. There are many wild legends told of this 
patriot's bravery, gigantic strength, and undying love 
for his country ; therefore it is no wonder that, although 




despised by the so-called ' Scottish ' nobility,^^ he was 
beloved by the people of Scotland, and the number of 
his devoted followers steadily increased. 

At length, he won a complete victory at Stirling 
Bridge ^^ over a great English army under the Earl of 
Surrey and Cressingham.-^^ Like the hero Tell in Switzer- 
land, the Scottish leader was thus able to show that an 
army of peasants or yeomen could successfully cope with 
a body of steel-clad knights. In this way, the victories 
of these patriots are of the greatest interest, and mark 



THE SCOTTISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 83 

a distinct era in the history of liberty among the 
oppressed peoples of Europe. 

For a short time, Scotland was freed from her in- 
vaders ; and her army, entering England in its turn, 
cruelly ravaged the northern counties. Meanwhile. 
Edward was hurrying over from Flanders to punish 
those whom he regarded as rebels and traitors. He led 
a magnificent host into Scotland ; and, splendidly aided 
by his English archers with their mighty bows, he 
defeated the Scots with great slaughter at Falkirk}^ 

After this fatal field, Wallace was forced to lead a 
wandering life. He was ever the determined enemy of 
Edward, and refused in any way to acknowledge that 
sovereign as his country's lord ; but at last he was 
betrayed into the hands of the conqueror, taken to 
London, and there put to a cruel and barbarous death. 

All agree that this is the greatest stain on Edward's 
fame, for he ought to have treated a brave and fallen foe 
more generously. It must be admitted that the stern 
law-giver thought he was acting justly : he looked upon 
Wallace as a law-breaker and rebel, as guilty of treason,^"* 
and as responsible for all the bloodshed of the war. But 
Wallace, as he himself said, was no traitor to Edward, 
for he had never been his subject; and he fought 
against that king's soldiers only because they had come 
to oppress his native country of Scotland. 

The story of Wallace, told in the rough verse of 
a minstrel called Blind Harry, has always had the most 
wonderful power over the hearts of his countrymen. 
They have ever regarded him as their national hero, 
and many Scotsmen have been nerved to do noble and 
daring deeds in order to be ' like Sir William Wallace.' 
Scotland and England are now joined into one great 



84 THE PLANTAGENETS-^EDWARD I. 

kingdom ; and every Briton would still figlit, as bravely 
as the Scottisli leader did, in defence of liis sea-girt 
isle. ■ 

The Strug-gle Renewed. — A struggle was kept up 
under Comyn ^^ for about five years, during whicli time 
Edward's attention was occupied by difficulties in Eng- 
land and France. But in 1303 a third great invasion 
of Scotland^^ was made, and tlie last stronghold ^^ yielded 
to the English king. 

In the same year that Wallace perished, a new con- 
stitution was thrust upon the humbled country : English 
law was everywhere imposed ; and the Scots were to 
have no separate national assembly, but were to send 
representatives to the English Parliament at West- 
minster. The work of conquest seemed complete. 

It was thus evident that Edward intended to appoint 
no successor to Baliol, but purposed to incorporate 
Scotland with England. Accordingly, Robert Bruce, 
the grandson of the competitor for the crown, sought to 
come to an agreement with John Comyn, who repre- 
sented the elder branch of the Scottish royal family. 
The latter treacherously reported the whole to Edward ; 
and Bruce, who was at the English court, only escaped 
imprisonment by immediate flight. 

At a meeting with Comyn in the church of the Grey- 
friars at Dumfries, the angry fugitive charged him with 
treachery ; Comyn denied his guilt, passionate reproaches 
were interchanged, and Bruce stabbed his rival upon the 
very steps of the altar. 

There was now no going back ; Bruce was foi^ced to 
place himself at the head of the Scottish national move- 
ment, and once more the standard which had fallen from 
the hand of Wallace was raised aloft. Many hearts in 



THE SCOTTISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 85 

Scotland were still burning with tlie ' celestial fire ' of 
jDatriotism, so that hundreds of enthusiastic followers 
rallied round the new leader ; and in a month he was 
crowned at Scone. 

When tidings of these events reached Edward, his 
rage and indignation were kindled against one who was 
in his eyes a perjured subject ^^ and a sacrilegious assassin. 
He at once sent a small army under the Earl of Pem- 
broke to keep the insurrection from spreading ; and, 
although now old and unfit for the toil of battle, deter- 
mined to lead in person a fourth great invasion of the 
indomitable northern land. The Prince of Wales, with 
two hundred and seventy of his companions, was knighted 
in order to join worthily in the enterprise ; and all swore 
a solemn oath ^^ never to sleep two nights in the same 
place until they had brought the murderers of Comyn to 
justice and had crushed the rebellious Scots. 

Three months after his coronation, Bruce was defeated 
by Pembroke, and forced to take refuge in the hills. 
For some time he led a wandering and adventurous 
life. An old poet ^^ gives us a vivid picture of his gallant 
bearing. Tall, muscular, and active, he was in combat 
the best and the bravest — leading the van in attack, and 
protecting the rear in retreat ; while on the wearisome 
march he was ever ready with song and story to revive 
the drooping spirits of his followers. 

At length his queen was taken captive, and himself 
driven to the western isles. During the winter he w^as 
hunted from island to island,^^ suffering much hardship 
and privation, and sometimes nearly in despair. . Still 
he struggled on ; and in spring he suddenly re-appeared, 
captured his own castle of Carrick, and successively 
defeated the Earls of Pembroke and Gloucester. 



86 



THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD I. 



The aged king, though now very feeble, roused him- 
self to crush his foe. Sending on his army in advance, 
he was borne slowly forward on a litter. The effort was 
too much for him. The spirit was as lion-like as ever, 
but the body had no longer its former strength ; and the 
old warrior had at last to yield to the Conqueror of 
all. He died at Burgh-on-Sands,^^ within a few miles 
of the country he had so anxiously striven to reach. 
The ruling passion was strong in death, for he ordered 
his bones to be carried in front of the invading army. 
His son, however, disregarded his wish, and buried him 
in Westminster Abbey. 



1. He was killed by the fall of his horse over a 

high cliff between Kiiighorn and Burnt- 
island in Fifeshire. 

2. Called the ' Maid of Norway,' being the child 

of Alexander's daughter and Eric of Nor- 
way. 

3. At Norham on the Tweed. 

4. Overlord, i.e., feudal superior. 

5. This decision was legally right. The three 

chief competitors were John Baliol, Robert 
Bruce, and John Comyn. 

6. Regalia, i.e., the royal insignia— the crown, 

sceptre, &c. 

7. Coronation-stone. According to tradition, it 

was the stone on which Jacob rested his 
head at Bethel. 

8. The south-east of Scotland was inhabited by 

people akin to the English, and the land 
was feudally held by Norman barons. The 
west and north, however, was occupied by 
Celts, and the kings of Scotland before 
Baliol were of that race. 

9. In Renfrewshire. 

10. Most of these were Normans. 



11. nth September 1297. 

12. The Lord Treasurer of Scotland. 

13. nth July 1298. 

14. His sentence charged him with being " a 

felon, an outlaw, and a traitor.'' 

15. Son of the Comyn who was the competitor 

for the crown. 

16. The first was against Baliol, the second 

against Wallace. 

17. Stirling Castle. 

18. Unlike Wallace, Bruce had taken the oath of 

allegiance. 

19. The manner in which the oath was taken is 

interesting. Two swans, the emblems of 
constancy and fidelity, were brought in in 
a golden net, and each knight took the 
oath with his hand upon their heads. 

20. Called Barbour. 

21. It was at this time, while hiding in the island 

of Rathlin, off the north-east coast of 
Ireland, that the well-known incident of 
' Bruce and tlie Spider ' took place. 

22. Near Carlisle. 




RENEWAL OF THE STRUGGLE. 



^1 




EDWARD II.— RENEWAL OF THE STRUGGLE 

BETWEEN THE BARONS AND THE CROWN. 

(1307-1327.) 

HARACTBR of the New 
King. — The greatest of tlie 
Plantagenets was succeeded 
by tlae weakest. As a pri- 
vate individual, the new king 
would not have been unami- 
able : he was fond of country 
life, steadfast in his affections, 
kindly in disposition, and 
had a taste for music and 
the fine arts somewhat in 
advance of his time. But as 
a king, there is nothing in 
his reign to merit approval or excite sympathy for his 
unhappy fate. He cared not for the duties of his 
throne, seemed to regard England as specially made 
for his pleasures, altogether neglected the administration 
of the law, and thus left the people exposed to the 
oppression of numerous tyrannical officials. 

His indolent but essentially selfish nature led him, to 
select as his friends those who could amuse him, and to 
reject those who would have aided him in the govern- 
ment of his realm. In this way he surrendered himself 
to the influence of useless favourites, and made so many 
powerful enemies that the conduct of national business 
was paralysed and the very safety of the throne en- 
dangered. 

As might have been expected from such a king, the 



EDWAED II. 



88 THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD II. 



S 



strong policy of Edward I. was completely reversed. The 
newly- crowned sovereign dismissed and even punished 
his father's ministers, whom he had learned to look upon 
as spies upon his pleasures rather than as men who 
would fain have incited him to take an interest in public 
affairs worthy of his princely rank. Further, he disre- 
garded the last solemn command of his father to carry 
on vigorously the Scotch war ; and a useless march into 
Scotland ^ was the sole outcome of the splendid prepara- 
tions of his heroic predecessor. Finally, he began a 
course which ultimately proved fatal, by calling to his 
side a favourite whom his wise father had banished as 
a source of disaster to the country and danger to the 



crown." 



The Barons and the Favourite. — The new-comer 
was a Gascon called Piers Gaveston. He had been 
brought up as the king's companion in boyhood ; but 
his influence had excited the alarm of Edward I., as 
being far too great to be worthy of the dignity of the 
prince. 

The foolish king loaded his favourite with every possible 
gift and honour. He bestowed upon him the Earldom of 
Cornwall (a dignity which had hitherto been borne only 
by princes of the blood-royal), made him regent of the 
kingdom when he himself went to France to celebrate 
his marriage with the Princess Isabella, and outraged 
his young queen by the extravagant demonstrations of 
affection with which he greeted the favourite on his 
return.^ In this, as in other matters, the purely personal 
considerations of the frivolous sybarite '^ were obstinately 
pursued, while the really important m.atters of govern- 
ment were contemptuously thrown aside as unworthy of 
notice. 



RENEWAL OF THE STRUGGLE. 89 

This elevation of an alien offended the English barons. 
Four days after the coronation, they vainly urged the 
king to dismiss the intruder. " Sire," they said, '' send 
away this foreigner, who has no business in England, 
and who will certainly bring trouble." The overweening- 
insolence of the favourite ^ added an element of personal 
hatred to the public indignation, and the nobles once 
more united against their king. 

It seemed as if the noble national policy of Simon 
de Montfort were now to be repeated. But the lofty 
patriotism of the past was altogether absent. In its 
stead, selfish ambition and wounded pride predomi- 
nated ; the barons sought to transfer the power from the 
king to themselves not to the nation as a whole, and 
they seem to have forgotten Edward I.'s grand principle 
that the ' commonalty of the realm ' are entitled to a 
voice in the government of the country.^ Still, in their 
opposition to the rule of foreigners and favourites, and 
in their determined efforts against illegal impositions, 
they were enthusiastically supported by the people. The 
Earl of Lancaster, in particular, was hailed as a worthy 
successor of Sir Simon the Righteous.^ 

Twice, the barons demanded and obtained the banish- 
ment of Gaveston ; twice, he came back in spite of 
them. On the first return, the nobles compelled Edward 
to agree to the appointment of a committee of twenty- 
one elected barons and prelates. These men were called 
' Ordainers^^ and (since the king would not attend to 
public affairs) were empowered to make ' ordinances ^ for 
the good of the realm.' 

On his second defiance of the decree of exile, Lan- 
caster pursued the favourite to the north. He sur- 
rendered to the Earl of Pembroke at Scarborough, 



90 THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD II. 

but was seized by Guy, Earl of Warwick, a nobleman 
of stern heart and grim countenance, whom he had 
mortally offended by calling ' the black dog of 
Ardennes.' He was carried off to Warwick Castle, 
where Lancaster and other nobles condemned him to 
death. The miserable man begged hard for his life; 
but wounded vanity and outraged pride know no for- 
giveness, and he was cruelly executed. The indignant 
king never forgot the death of his friend, and never for- 
gave his executioners. 

For some time the country was divided into two great 
camps, the Earl of Lancaster treating with the king on 
terms of equality ; the influence of the Church, however, 
prevented a civil war, and brought about a temporary 
reconciliation between the two parties. The king recog- 
nised the Ordinances as the law of the land ; and, in 
return, the Parliament granted liberal supplies. The 
birth of an heir to the throne made all inclined to forget 
the errors of the past and look forward hopefully to the 
future. 

Conclusion of the Scottish War of Independence.— 
Meanwhile the affairs of Scotland had been almost alto- 
gether neglected. Castle after castle had jdelded to 
Bruce ; till at last, in i 3 1 4, the only fortress left in the 
hands of Edward's soldiers was Stirling Castle, and the 
governor of that stronghold agreed to surrender if not 
relieved by the day of St. John the Baptist.^ 

Edward, with a little more energy than he had yet 
shown in public duty, determined to go in person to its 
relief. Lancaster and his supporters held aloof, but they 
allowed their retainers to follow the king. A splendid 
force of 100,000 men crossed the border, and approached 
Stirling on the evening before the appointed day. 



RENEWAL OF THE STRUGGLE. 91 

Now the English soldiers had no confidence in their 




BRUCE AT BANNOCKBURN. 

untried leader ; while the smaller Scottish army had per- 



92 THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD II 



1 



feet faitli in the veteran warrior who commanded them, 
and were strongly posted so as to guard the only road 
to the beleaguered castle. The result was that the 
magnificent host of Edward was shamefully routed ; and, 
on the fatal field of Bannockhiirn^ England suffered the 
most disastrous defeat it has ever endured. "^^ 

The work of Edward I. was thus undone by his 
weaker son, for this victory insured the independence 
of Scotland. No English boy should be sorry for this. 
The proudest boasfc of every inhabitant of Britain is 
that ' Britons never shall be slaves ; ' then as now all 
felt that ' Freedom is a noble thing,' far more precious 
than life, and the soldiers of Bruce were determined to 
throw off the yoke of slavery or die upon the field. The 
spirit of these men is well shown by the poet Burns in 
words ^^ that should be dear to the heart of every lover 
of liberty : — • 

' ' By oppression's woes and pains ! 
By our sons in servile chains ! 
We will drain our dearest veins, 
But they sliall be free ! 

Lay the proud usurper low ! 
Tyrants fall in every foe ! 
Liberty's in every blow ! 
Let us do or die." 

Edward for some time obstinatel}^ refused to acknow- 
ledge Bruce's title to the Scottish throne; but in 1323, 
after nine years more of desultory warfare, a truce for 
thirteen years was agreed upon. This closed the long 
war of Scottish independence, and after-history proves 
that it was far better for Britain that the northern land 

a 



A KING DEPOSED FROM THE THRONE. 



93 



should remain free until the course of events led to a 
peaceful union with England. 



1. Led by the Earl of Pembroke, for Edward II. 

had returned to Westminster. 

2. Edward I. had seen during his father's reign 

how intense was the national aversion to 
foreign infltience. 

3. He left the queen the moment he saw his 

favourite, kissing and embracing him. He 
also gave him the jewels which he had re- 
ceived from his bride's father. 

4. Sybarite, a pleasure-loving person, so called 

from the ancient and luxurious Grecian 
city of Sybaris in South Italy. 
5.' He showered nicknames, such as ' The Great 
Hog," 'The Stage-player," 'The Old Boai-,' 
&c., upon the great nobles. 

6. See pages 07 and 68. 

7. On the first banishment, the king, in defiance 



of the barons, actually made him Lord- 
Lieutenant of Ireland with special powers. 

8. The Ordinances were published in 1311. The 

chief were— (1) to remove the abuses in the 
administration of justice ; (2) that customs 
duties were illegal ; (3) that no war was to 
be declared, nor officer of state appointed, 
without consent of parliament ; (i) that fa- 
vourites were to be punished and dismissed. 

9. Jwne 24. 

10. Edward, who was no coward, would fain 

have made one more effort, but was 
hurried from the field by the Earl oT 
Suffolk. He fled to Dunbar, and thence 
sailed to Berwick. 

11. The poem is called " Bruce's Address to his 

men at Bannockburn." 



A KING DEPOSED FROM THE THRONE. 

THE King again in the hands of Favourites. — After 
the defeat at Bannockburn, Edward stood before 
his people as a disgraced man. Previously, his indiffer- 
ence to duty had left them exposed to oppression and mis- 
government at home; now, his incompetence had humbled 
England in the eyes of her enemies, and had undone 
the glorious work of his father. Encouraged by this loss 
of prestige, Ireland and Wales rose in rebellion ; and it 
required a long and deadly struggle to reconquer these 
countries.'^ To add to the general discontent, famine 
and plague devastated the land. 

Parliament insisted that the Earl of Lancaster ^ should 
be made chief minister with almost absolute power. 
But this nobleman had no loftier inspiring motive than 
personal ambition, and was without any statesmanlike 
ability. Accordingly, it became evident that even 
Edward himself could not govern worse than his cousin ^ 



94 THE PLANTAGENETS—EDWARD II. 

and rival J and many of the barons separated themselves 
from the uncrowned despot. 

Edward might now have resumed power by the 
aid of his nobles and with general consent. But 
untaught by the lessons of the past, this weak trifler 
once more yielded himself to the control of favourites. 
This time, he had bestowed his regard upon two English- 
men, a father and son called Despenser. The avarice 
and greed of the elder, with the inflated pride of the 
younger, exasperated the barons, and parliament passed 
against them a sentence of banishment. 

Dissension, however, soon broke out among the nobles ; 
and Edward was able to recall his favourites, and 
even to defeat Lancaster in the battle of Borougli- 
hridge.^ The earl himself was taken captive; and, 
within a week, was tried, condemned, and put to death. 
This unhappy execution of a royal prince was the 
beginning of much after-bloodshed and misery : the 
' Wars of the Roses,' the insurrections of the reign of 
Henry VII., the political executions in the reigns of 
the first two Tudors, — all may be traced back to this one 
act of revenge. 

Edward and the Despensers were now supreme. He 
used his victory rather as a triumphant partisan than 
a wise king : some of the enemies of his favourites were 
put to death ; others were imprisoned ; and many fled 
to France, there to plot against their banishers and 
wait for the opportunity of revenge. 

Fall of the King*. — The king's triumph was short- 
lived. The people, who regarded the dead Lancaster 
as a martyr to the cause of freedom, joined the followers 
of that earl in pursuing with relentless hate those whom 
they regarded as his murderers. Further, the king's 



A KING DEPOSED FROM THE THRONE. 95 

selfisli, half-contemptuous neglect of public duty had 
alienated all the truly worthy and patriotic portion of 
his subjects, who would so gladly have rallied round the 
son of the great Plantagenet. 

The blow which overthrew the unhappy prince came 
from those of his own family. The queen had been, as 
we have said, offended at the very beginning of the 
reign by the king's preference for Gaveston ; and re- 
peatedly since the death of that adventurer, her dignity 
had been wounded by the honour shown to favourites of 
low birth. At this juncture, she was sent to France to 
arrange certain difficulties with her brother.^ She was 
there joined by the young Prince of Wales, refused to 
return to England, and made common cause with the 
numerous exiles in France. 

In September 1326, the queen landed with a consi- 
derable force at the mouth of the Orwell,^ proclaiming 
herself the avenger of Lancaster and the enemy of the 
favourites. Edward found himself completely deserted — 
the people despised and detested him, his Parliament 
would do nothing for him, and his barons refused to follow 
his banner. Not a sword was drawn, nor a bow bent, on 
his behalf. ' Barons, prelates, commons — even his own 
brothers — ^joined his enemies. Driven from London, he 
took refuge first in the West of England and then in 
Wales. The elder Despenser was hanged at Bristol, 
and the younger at Hereford; while the king him- 
self was taken prisoner, and detained in close cap- 
tivity. 

The next act in this drama followed very quickly. 
A charge of having broken his coronation oath was 
brought against the unhappy king ; and, confessing his un- 
fitness to reign, he resigned the crown. Parliament then 



96 



THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD II. 



solemnly renounced its allegiance to tlie fallen monarcli, 
and appointed his son in his stead. 

Much obscurity hangs over the fate of the deposed 
Edward. For eight months he dragged out a miserable 
life — insult, contumely, and brutal harshness formed his 
daily lot ; and, at last, his enemies ^ determined upon his 




death. He had been hurried from prison to prison, and 
the deed of blood took place in Berkeley Castle.^ One 
terrible night, fearful shrieks broke upon the startled 
air, and were then followed by a silence still more full 
of horror. Next morning, the death of the ill-starred 
Edward was announced, and the country people were 
admitted to see the body of the murdered Plantagenet. 



A KING DEPOSED FROM THE THRONE. 97 

A cold thrill ran through the trembling spectators as 
they looked upon the convulsed frame and distorted 
features of him who for twenty years had been their 
king. 

Tlius, for the first time in the history of England^ its 
monarch was deposed^ and, as it were, condemned to 
death by the voice of the people. While the constitu- 
tional importance of this fact is very great, the manner 
of the deed is disgraceful to all concerned. The faith- 
less wife and her baser minion ^ were unworthy weapons 
with which to execute a nation's sentence ; and to leave 
a deposed and helpless king in the hands of his bitterest 
foes (persons as unworthy as himself), exposed to humi- 
liating insult and barbarous outrage, was far more cruel 
than a deliberate decree of death. 

In short, one leaves this reign with a feeling of 
dreary disappointment. The king was quite unfit for 
the throne, but his enemies were not one whit more 
noble. God so ruled it that, even under the weakest 
of the Plantagenets, the people made steady progress; 
but the history, instead of being ennobling, is ' like 
sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh,' not one of 
the leaders stands out before us as a great-hearted 
patriot, of not one can we say that he was not passion's 
slave,' not one is worthy to be worn in the nation's 
' heart of heart.' ^^ 

Importance of the Reign. — We cannot quit this 
time of confusion and shame without looking back 
upon it, and pondering on its value in England's 
history. 

This period is, in the first place, fall of lessons of 
tragic interest. In no portion of her annals do we see 
more clearly the dreadful effects of human passion 
(3) G 



98 THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD II. 

unrestrained by principle and reason. Obstinate in- 
dolence deaf to every warning, natural affection turned 
to hatred, honour a bye-word, loyalty a lie, revenge a 
religion — these and other perversions of that ' piece of 
work ' called man, make a chaos of what might have 
been an ordered world. The fate of Edward declares to 
all that the worst crime of a sovereign is forgetfulness 
of his kingly office : for that leaves his people at the 
mercy of every petty official ; and compels them, sooner 
or later, to sweep from their path one who will not 
govern and is too indolent to protect them. 

In the second place, this reign is important as the 
close of an epoch ^^ — a transition time connecting two 
widely-different periods of the country's history. On 
the one hand, it completes the work of Runnymede, of 
Simon de Montfort, and of those who resisted Edward 
I. ; on the other, it directly points forward to the Wars 
of the Roses and the establishment of the Tudor dynasty : 
it sees the end of the long Scottish War and of the great 
Edward's scheme of national unity ; and introduces us to 
a century's bitter war with France, and a renewal of the 
vain dream of an Anglo-French empire. 

Finally, the reign of the weakest of the Plantagenets, 
like that of John the vilest of the dynasty, left to the 
nation a legacy of great constitutional importance. The 
grand central principle, that the peojyle as a whole are 
entitled to a voice in the government of the nation, was 
repeatedly proclaimed. In his coronation oath, the king 
swore to keep the laws ^ ivJiich the commonalty of the 
realm shall have chosen /^"^ and at his deposition, the 
renunciation of allegiance was made ' in the name of 

ALL MEN OF THE LAND OF ENGLAND.' 

In many other ways, this reign bore fruits of lasting 

a 



I 



THE AGE OF CHIVALRY. 



99 



benefit to England. However vile men may be, yet 
God's plan steadily unfolds itself, and is always the 
wisest and best : — 

" Whatever is, is right ; though purblind ^^ man 
Sees but part of the chain, the nearest links — • 
His eye not carrying to the equal hand 
That poises all above," 



1. Wales required one year of constant fighting ; 

Ireland, three. 

2. As Lancaster had not joined in the war, he 

had not shared in the disgrace of the defeat 
at Bannockburn. 

3. Lancaster was cousin of the Jdng and uncle 

of the queen. 

4. Boroughbridge, on the banks of the Ure, in 

Yorkshire. 

5. Edward ought to have gone himself, but to 

please the Despensers he sent his wife and 
son instead. 

6. In Suffolk. 



7. The queen and her favourite Mortimer. 

8. Berkeley Castle, in Gloucestershire, on the 

Severn. 

9. Minion. Originally this word meant a dear 

or loved one, then came to mean a base 
favourite. 

10. These quotations are from Shakespeare's 

"Hamlet." 

11. Epocli — that is, the period in which our con- 

stitution was formed. 

12. This clause was probably for the first time 

used in the coronation oath. 

13. Purblind, dim- or near- sighted. 



EDWARD III. 




EDWARD IIL 

they had yet attained. 



THE AGE OF CHIVALRY. 

1327-1377. 

HARACTBR of the Reign. 

— The new king was but 
fifteen years of age ; -^ and, 
although his reign bad 
opened so gloomily, it was 
destined to be one of the 
most illustrious in the annals 
of England. In it were won 
some of the most brilliant 
victories in war ; while, in 
the arts of peace, literature, 
architecture and commerce 
reached a higher point than 
It was followed bv a dismal 



loo THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWAKD III. 

period of civil war and misery, so that it stands out as 
the climax of the earlier civilisation of England. 

To understand this reign aright, we must remember 
that since the Conquest the character of feudalism had 
been gradually changing. The strict ties ^ which 
formerly bound the vassal to his lord, had been sup- 
planted by the freer and more attractive relations of 
Chivalry : in these, all knights were equal ; and all alike 
were bound by their vow to be true to their religion, to 
preserve their honour, and to defend the weaker sex 
from insult or injury. Such sentiments had been fos- 
tered by the songs of the Troubadours, the stories and 
romances of the Trouveres,^ and the stirring pages 
of the Chroniclers. In a word, it was in this age 
that Chivalry had its highest development ; and our 
hearts glow within us as we gaze upon the glittering 
pageantry of the period, amid which " the din of arms, 
the shouting of knights, and the marshalling of troops " 
are ever and anon heard. 

Comparing, however, the chivalry of this period with 
the martial enthusiasm of the earlier reigns, one detects, 
amid much that is truly noble, a slightly theatrical ele- 
ment which somewhat lessens our admiration. Placing, 
for example, the ' chivalrous ' Edward side by side with 
the feudal Henry ^ or Richard, one cannot help saying 
to one's self — 

"So all that the old dukes had heen, without knowing it, 
This duke would fain knoAv he was, without being it." 

The Edward of the great French war was essentially a 
knight- err ant. Thus he was personally daring, de- 
lighted in dangerous adventure, and won splendid vic- 
tories ; but, on the other hand, he was without the 



THE AGE OF CHIVALRY. loi 

foresight of a great general or statesman, and reaped 
no permanent benefit from the matchless prowess of 
his armies. 

The King" a Minor. — As Edward was under age, a 
council of regency was appointed to govern during his 
minority. The chief power, however, was left in the 
hands of the queen, who unhappily surrendered herself 
more and more to the influence of Mortimer. After a 
feeble pretence of reforming the abuses of the late reign, 
the favourite threw off the mask and acted with insolent 
presumption. He thus offended the barons and excited 
the dislike of the mass of the people. At the same time, 
his dishonourable intimacy with the queen roused the 
indignation of all the good within the realm. 

Meanwhile, the Scots had invaded the north of Eng- 
land ; and the young Edward, with eager enthusiasm, 
joined the army sent to oppose them. To his disap- 
pointment, he found that it was impossible to bring the 
foe to bay. 

Every soldier in the Scottish army was mounted on a 
hardy steed, which could endure great fatigue with little 
provender. The invaders, in fact, had no baggage to 
encumber them ; for a bag of meal, carried in front of 
each horseman, supplied all the food they required. Such 
a force could, of course, move with the greatest rapidity 
from place to place. 

On only two occasions did the armies confront one 
another. On the first of these, Edward found the Scots 
strongly posted upon a hill on the opposite side of 
the river Wear. Like a knight-errant rather than a 
general, he challenged them to cross the stream and 
fight the battle on the level plain. Their leader, the 
famous Douglas, wisely answered, " I have not come 



102 



THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD III. 



here to please King Edward, and I shall not leave my 
post for love of him." 

The second time the armies met, the young king 
narrowly escaped capture. The two forces lay watching 
one another for eighteen days. Then when darkness 
covered the scene and Edward's soldiers had retired to 
rest, they were roused by the clash of arms and the 
wild battle-cry " A Douglas ! A Douglas ! " While all 



1 




DOUGLAS AND THE PKINCE. 

was yet in confusion, the curtains of the royal tent were 
rudely drawn back and the tall form of the ' Black 
Douglas ' towered menacingly over the couch where the 
young king lay. The royal chamberlain and the chap- 
lain rushed forward to meet the intruder, and persuaded 
him to withdraw. 

In such scenes as these, Edward's love of adventure 
was at once gratified and increased. Peace was shortly 



THE AGE OF CHIVALRY". 103 

afterwards made witli tlie Scots ; and this still further 
incensed many of the barons against Mortimer. 

As Edward advanced to manhood, he began to under- 
stand the fate of his father, and to feel deeply the dis- 
grace of Mortimer's relation to the queen. Further, in 
1328, he had married Philippa of Hainault ; ^ and, 
two years later, a son was born to him, who was after- 
wards to become so renowned as the Black Prince. He 
felt that he was now able to discharge the duties of bis 
office, and he determined to throw off the dishonourable 
yoke under which he laboured. 

Calling a parliament at Nottingham, where Isabella 
was staying, he suddenly seized the favourite in the 
very presence of the guilty queen, who vainly entreated 
her dear son to spare her ' gentle cousin.' Mortimer, 
brought to trial for the murder of the late king, was 
quickly condemned and executed ; the queen, however, 
was treated courteously, but was removed from public 
life and confined to the castle of Risings.^ 

Edward then quietly assumed the reins of government, 
and acted with a prudence and moderation which, com- 
mended him to the great body of his people. 

Rene'wal of the Scottish War. — In the year 1332, 
Edward Baliol, the son of John Baliol, determined to 
assert his claim to the Scottish throne ; he was 
encouraged by Edward, and supported by many barons 
vv^ho, for opposing Bruce, had been deprived of their 
Scottish estates. Setting out from Raven spur in York- 
shire, the expedition sailed to the Tay ; and, in seven 
weeks, Baliol was crowned at Scone. He was almost 
as quickly defeated, for within three months he was 
driven from the country. 

Edward now made a formal league with this enemy 



104 THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD III. 

of the Bruce dynasty, and with a great army laid siege 
to Berwick. A Scottish host, led by Douglas, advanced 
to the relief of that important town ; ^ and there was 
then fought the first of the gi^eat battles of this reign — 
one which closely resembled many of the more famous 
contests which followed. 

King Edward had posted his army in a strong posi- 
tion on Halidon Hill, where a deep marsh protected 
his front. The Scottish knights, foolishly hurrying 
forward to attack their foes, were thrown into disorder 
in the morass, and shot down in great numbers by the 
English archers " who made their arrows flee as thick 
as motes in the sunbeams." The defeat of Bannockburn 
was thus avenged ; for the Scottish leader, with the flower 
of the nobility of Scotland and 30,000 men-at-arms, fell 
upon the field. 

Baliol was once more placed upon the throne, and the 
young King David Bruce took refuge in France. From 
this time onwards, the Scots and the French were close 
allies in all the wars with England. While Edward 
could help him, Baliol's position remained secure ; but 
when French affairs called the English king away, the 
Scots rose in rebellion and expelled him from the 
kingdom. 

The Scottish war went on for fourteen years. After 
the victory of Crecy, the young King David led an army 
into Cumberland and Durham, but was totally defeated- 
and taken prisoner in the disastrous battle of Nevilles 
Cross.^ 

Nine years later, when the English king was renew- 
ing his war with France, the Scots again crossed the 
border. Edward determined to teach these unwearied 
enemies a lesson. Entering their country, he deliberately 



BEGINNING OF THE WAR WITH EKANCE. 105 

destroyed every building and laid waste the land for 
twenty miles from the coast. This dreadful devasta- 
tion was long remembered by the Scots, and in after- 
invasions of England they often called upon one another 
to remember the ' Burnt Candlemas.' ^^ Even this could 
not subdue the spirit of his foes ; for when famine com- 
pelled him to retreat, they hung upon the rear of his 
army and kept up an incessant and harassing attack. 

David Bruce was shortly afterwards released from 
captivity; and, in 1357, a peace was made with the 
Scots, recognising, once more, the independence of their 
country. This struggle is one of great interest, for it 
was in it that Edward and his soldiers were trained for 
the longer contest which now awaited them. 

1. Edward was born in 1312. j 6. Hainault, now a province of Belgium. 

2. That is, of service on the part of the vassal 7. Risings, now Castle Rising, in Norfolk, five 

and protection on the part of the lord. I miles N.W. of Lynn. 

3. Troubadours and Trouv^res, see note 3, page | 8. In 1833. Berwick was called the ' key of 

33, I S<:otland.' 

4. Henry II. I 9- I" the county of Durham. The battle was 

5. From Browning's dramatic lyric, "The Flight fought on October 17th, 1346. 

of the Duchess." I 10. 2nd February 1355. 



BEGINNING OF THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR 
WITH FRANOE.i 

Edward's Claim to the Throne of France. — In the 
year 1328, a new king^ had ascended the throne of 
France; and Edward, acknowledging his title to the 
crown, had done homage for Guienne and Gascony, 
which the Kings of England still held. There had 
been disputes concerning the possession of certain towns 
in the former province, and the ill-feeling was now 
intensified by the alliance between Scotland and France. 
It became clear that war was inevitable ; and Edward , 
with the consent of his parliament, boldly put forward a 



io6 



THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD III. 



claim to the Frencli throne. The ground of this pro- 
ceeding will be evident from the following table : — 



TABLE SHOWING THE CLAIM OF EDWARD III. TO THE 
THRONE OF FRANCE. 

Philip III. 
1270 -1285. 



Philip IV. 
1285-1314. 



Charles of Yalois. 

Philip VI. 
1328-1350. 



I I I I 

Louis X. Philip V. Chaeles IV. Isabella=Edward II. 
1314-1316. 1316-1322. 1322-1328. I 

Daughters. Daughters. Edward III. 



JOAN=KlNG 

OF JSTavarre. 
Son. 



I 
John I. 
1316. 



On the death of John I., the infant son of Louis X., 
the French Estates'"^ had declared that by the Salic law* 
females were excluded from the throne. The next 
two kings had both left daughters who had been 
passed over ; and, in accordance with the same law, 
Philip YI. had been called to the crown. Edward III. 
now maintained that, although a female could not reign 
in France, yet her son ought to inherit. This was an 
absurd claim ; for the daughters of Louis X., Philip V., 
and Charles IV. had borne sons^ who would have ranked 
before Edward III., and no person can hand down a right 
they never possessed. It was this sad dispute which led 
to a whole century of strife between France and England, 



BEGINNING OF THE WAR WITH FRANCE. 107. 

and gave birth to a hostile feeling between the two 
nations which lasted till quite recent times. 

Character of the War. — In turning over the pages 
of the Chronicles giving an account of this war, one is 
first struck by the noble and picturesque side of chivalry. 
Deeds of heroic bravery ; the conqueror constantly wait- 
ing on the vanquished ;^ the prisoner who had been 
liberated to obtain his ransom returning to captivity 
rather than break his word/ — these, and acts such as 
these, kindle the imagination and elevate the thoughts 
of the reader. 

But there is a gloomy side to the picture. The laws 
of chivalry bade knight be courteous to belted knight, 
but they said nothing about the masses of the people; 
and this long war was one scene of cruelty and suffering 
to the wretched inhabitants of the devastated land. 

At first, Edward relied upon the help of allies ; but 
soon found that he could not safely depend upon such aid. 
It was accordingly with the help of his English soldiers 
alone that he gained the victories which render illustrious 
this page of our history. The different races which 
united to form our nation had now thoroughly mingled, 
and the language spoken was in all essential character- 
istics our English tongue. We read of baron and 
burgess, knight and citizen, but we no longer hear of 
the quarrels between Norman and Saxon ; and the chief 
poet of the reign is known as the " well of English 
undefiled." ^ 

It was proved in these wars that a people had 
sprung up on the banks of the Thames worthy to be 
ranked as the foremost race of all the world.^ The poet 
Shakespeare makes a later king^*^ thus describe the men 
of Old England :— 



10$ THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD III. 

" On, on you noblest English, 
Whose blood is fetched from fathers of war-proof ! 
Fathers, that, like so many Alexanders, 
Have, in these parts, from morn till even fought, 
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument. 
Be copy now to men of grosser blood, 
And teach them how to war ! And, you, good yeomen, 
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here 
The mettle of your pasture ; let us swear 
That you are worthy of your breeding, which I doubt not^ 
For there is none of you so mean and base 
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes." 

The army of England had gradually become one 
of paid and trained men/^ and the leaders were 
now mostly professional soldiers skilled in the art of 
war. Further, Edward III. had learned a great deal 
from the wars of Wallace and Bruce as well as from 
his own contest with the Scots. The former of these 
leaders had proved the value of solid bodies of in- 
fantry, the latter had shown how helpless heavy 
cavalry were where the ground was difficult, and 
Edward's own wars had demonstrated the unsurpassed 
skill of the English archers. The French army, on 
the other hand, was still a feudal one, led by great 
lords rather than by men used to war and relying 
mainly upon its steel-clad knights. Such a force was 
quite unable to meet the troops of Edward, and France 
was all but annexed to England. Three things, how- 
ever, worked together to sa^^e that country from an 
English conquest — the fact that Edward was a brave 
knight-errant rather than a statesman, the resistless 
national spirit of the French people, and the religious 
fervour afterwards called forth by the heroic Joan of Arc. 



BEGINNING OF THE WAR WITH FRANCE. 



109 



Edward and his Allies : The Battle of Sluys. — 
Edward made many alliances with the rulers in the north- 
east of France. His claim was especially supported 
by the citizens of Flanders, who had driven out their 
tyrannical Count. These Flemings were the great cloth- 
weavers of Europe, and eagerly desired the monopoly of 
the English wool-trade."^^ Accordingly, it was to Flanders 




THE ENGLISH FLEET APPEOACHING SLUYS. 



that Edward first led an army. He was received gladly, 
but his preparations came to nothing. He found Iiis otlier 
allies utterly unstable ; and the French king, not risking 
a great battle, allowed him to waste his strength upon 
isolated fortresses. 

Edward was bitterly disappointed, and returned to 



no THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD III. 

England in 13 40. His parliament encouraged him to 
renewed efforts, and granted him liberal supplies in a 
novel form — giving him ' the ninth lamb, the ninth fleece, 
and the ninth sheaf.' 

Meanwhile, Philip of France had, in his rival's ab- 
sence, invaded Flanders ; and, with the help of many 
Genoese ships, he prepared to prevent Edward from 
landing again in the country. The two fleets met on 
the 24th of June 1340, and the English sailors soon 
proved their superiority. f | 

The French vessels were arranged in three lines after 
the model of a land army, and were chained together. I; 
This, of course, rendered them quite unmanageable. 
Accordingly, the English ships got to the windward, 
and dashed down upon the closely-packed mass. So 
great was the confusion that many French and Genoese 
sailors leaped in terror into the sea. The slaughter was 
enormous,^^ and Edward sailed to Flanders in triumph. 

In spite of this great victory, the campaign that fol- 
lowed was a barren one, A short truce was accordingly 
made ; and Edward returned to England to inquire into 
the state of the finances, as his supplies had fallen short 
of his needs. While thus trying to clear himself from 
his difficulties, he was completely deserted by all his allies 
but Flanders, and found it advisable to agree to a cessa- 
tion of hostilities for three-and-a-half years. 

During this ' breathing space,' the Pope, who was 
at this time regarded as the general arbiter in disputes 
among the Christian peoples of Europe, offered to mediate 
in the interests of peace. At first, the rivals agreed to sub- 
mit their claims to the Pontiff ; but it soon became evi- 
dent that the two nations would not abide by the judge's 
decision and that a renewal of the war was unavoidable. 



CRECY AND CALAIS. 



Ill 



, The war may be said to have lasted from 
1337 to the l)eginiiiiig of the Wars of the 
Koses ill 1453. 

Philip VI. 

Estates, equivalent to the English Parlia- 
ment. 

Salic Law, the law of the Salian Franks. 
The Franks, or freemen, were a group of 
German tribes who settled in France. We 
can distinguish two principal tribes ; one 
of these was the Salian Franks, who 
settled in the district between the Meuse, 
the sea, and the Sommc, and founded the 
royal dynasty of France. The Salic law 
was that "no portion of land in the full 
ownership of tlie head of the family should 
pass into the possession of women." 

To get over this difficulty, Edward absurdly 
contended that sons of daughters to suc- 
ceed must have been born during the life- 
time of their grandfather. 

E.g., the Black Prince and King John after 
the battle of Poitiers. 



7. King John after the Treaty of Bretigny. 

8. The poet Spenser thus speaks of the earlier 

poet, Chaucer : — 

" Dan Chaucer, well of English undefiled, 
On fame's eternal bead-roll worthy to be 
filed." 

9. See Macaulay's " History of England," vol. i. 

10. Henry V. at the siege of Harfleur. 

11. Like our modern 'regulars.' The policy of 

employing mercenaries had been intro- 
duced by the great Henry IL See page 17. 

12. It is very interesting to find that England, 

which now depends upon her manufac- 
tures, then actually exported her wool 
and other produce. 

13. The French lost 3'2S ships and 30,000 men ! 

It is said that all his courtiers were afraid 
to tell Philip of the disaster ; and that at 
last the court jester revealed it to him by 
saying, " What cowards these English are ! 
They would not leap into the sea at Sluys 
as the French and Genoese did." 



CREgY AND CALAIS. 

THE March to Cregy. — The war recommenced in 
Gascony, where the English were at first hard 
pressed; and, to divert the attention of the French, a 
great army was landed at La Hogne in Normandy. 
Edward's design was to march through the north of 
France towards Flanders, where he expected to be rein- 
forced by a large army of Flemings. 

The invaders encountered their first serious difficulty 
at the river Seine. Here they found that all the bridges 
had been broken down ; while Philip, with a strong force, 
held the opposite bank ready to oppose their passage. 
At the same time, a large army was hurrying from the 
south of France to attack them in the rear. It was 
absolutely necessary to cross the river, but it was im- 
possible to do so in the face of so strong an enemy ; to 
retreat was almost as hopeless, and destruction seemed 
inevitable. 

Edward, however, directed a rapid march to be made 



112 THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD III. 

towards Paris ; tliis caused the greatest alarm in that 
city, and forced Philip to hurry up the river for the 
defence of his capital. There was thus left unguarded 
a broken bridge at Poissy.'^ This the English rapidly 
repaired, and as quickly used to free themselves from 
their dangerous position. The small but brave army had 
thus surmounted the first obstacle in their path, and 
advanced safely on their way. 

But one more river, the Somme, lay between Edward 
and the north-eastern frontier towards which he was 
marching ; and when he reached its banks he found him- 
self again brought to a standstill. All the fords were 
strongly guarded, the exasperated army of the baffled 
king of France was hurrying in pursuit, and once more 
it seemed impossible for the English force to escape. 
But, at the last moment, a peasant pointed out a ford 
below Ahbeville, where the river could be safely crossed 
at low water. To this, the retreating army hurried ; and, 
after a severe struggle, found themselves again in com- 
parative safety. 

The rising tide prevented the pursuers from at once 
following, and the wise Edward used well the respite in 
resting his wearied soldiers and hxing upon a strong 
position for the coming battle. 

The Battle of Crecy: 1346. — The p]nglish king, who 
had not forgotten the lessons o^* liis Scottish wars, mar- 
shalled his army near the town of Creci/.^ A hill, which 
commanded the whole of the field of battle, stood in the 
rear ; and on it the skilful leader took his stand. He 
arranged his troops in three divisions — the first led 
by the Prince of Wales, the second by the Earls of 
Northampton and Arundel, while the tliird remained 
in rescr/o near himself Deep trenches were dug tq 



CREgY AND CALAIS. 



113 



protect the flanks of the little army ; and, above all. 
each captain was told exactly the duty required of him. 
Finally, Edward directed that " all men should eat at 
their ease and drink a draught, sitting on the ground 
with their helmets off and their crossbows in front of 
them," so as to be "more fresh and better prepared." 

Meanwhile, the French army was hurrying towards 
the field — the men being footsore and weary, exhausted 
by the heat of the day ^ and the rapidity of their advance. 
They, too, were in three divisions, as will be seen from 
the accompanying 
plan of the battle. 
The van of their army 
was composed of about 
fifteen thousand Ge- 
noese crossbowmen . 
These men had 




marched six leagues 
since daybreak, and 
had much need of 
rest before they could 
be fit for fighting. 

" The same season 
there fell a great rain and an eclipse, with a terrible 
thunder ; and before the rain, there came flying over the 
battle a great number of crows for fear of the tempest 
coming. Then anon the air began to wax clear, and the 
sun to shine fair and bright, the which was right in the 
Frenchmen's eyen* and on the Englishmen's backs. 

" When the Genoese were assembled together, and 
began to approach, they made a great leap and cry to 
abash the Englishmen ; but they stood still, and stirred, 
not for all tliat. Then the Genoese ao-ain the second 



114 



THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD III. 



time made another leap and a fell cry, and stepped for- ]| 




EDWARD CONGRATULATING THE BLACK PRINCE ON HIS BRAVERY AT CRECY. 



CRECY AND CALAIS. 115 

ward a little ; and the Englishmen removed not one 
foot. Thirdly again, they leaped and cried, and went 
forth till they came within shot ; then they shot fiercely 
with their crossbows. 

'' Then the English archers stepped forth one pace, and 
let fly their arrows so wholly and thick that it seemed 
snow. When the Genoese felt the arrows piercing 
through heads and arms and breasts, many of them cast 
down their crossbows, and did cut their strings, and 
returned discomfited." ^ 

Thus began the first of a series of battles, in all of 
which the English archers decided the fortunes of the 
day. The magnificent French cavalry, under Alenpon, 
vainly strove to check the flight of the Genoese, and 
were at last ordered to cut their way through the mass 
of fugitives in order to close with the battalion of the 
Black Prince. The English archers ^ allowed them to 
pass through their ranks ; but, while they were locked 
in deadly combat with the Prince's men-at-arms, the 
bold 3^eomen closed up to prevent support from reaching 
the enemy, and rained their deadly arrows upon the 
third line of the French. 

At one time it seemed as if the overpowering num- 
bers of Aleneon's cavalry would crush their brave op- 
ponents. Reinforcements were eagerly asked for from 
the English king, but that knight-errant refused to send 
a single man while his son lived. " Let the youth," ^ he 
cried, '' win his spurs ; for I intend, if it please God^ 
that this day be his." 

His confidence was justified, for his gallant son was 
at last victorious, and the cavalry opposed to him gave 
way in wild confusion. As evening closed over the 
scene of slaughter, a few straggling bands of heroic 



ii6 THE PL AXTAGENETS— EDWARD III. 

knights strove to retrieve tlie fortunes of France, but 
at the hour of vespers the French king, seeing that all 
was lost, withdrew from the field and fled towards 
Amiens.^ 

The Siege of Calais. — -Although the victory was com- 
plete and the English had slain far more than their own 
numbers, Edward's army was too small to follow up 
the advantage, and continued their march towards the 
frontier. Anxious to have possession of a port near 
both to England and to his Flemish allies, Edward now 
advanced upon the strong town of Calais.^ 

To his rage, the victorious king found the task more 
difficult than he had anticipated, for the siege occupied 
him nearly a year. The delay but made the fiery 
Plantagenet more determined, and kindled his anger. 
In vain King Philip unfurled the Oriflamme,^^ and sum- 
moned all France to rally round the sacred flag ; in vain 
attack after attack was made upon the English lines ; 
the blockade became more and more strict, and at last 
hunger forced the brave defenders to yield themselves to 
the mercy of their conqueror. 

At first, Edward declared that he would put the whole 
of the inhabitants to the sword. It was only upon the 
remonstrances of his captains that he relented, and agreed 
to spare the rest if six of the principal inhabitants would 
come forward to die for their fellows. On the appointed 
day Eustace de St. Pierre and five brave burgesses 
appeared, " bare-headed, bare-footed, with halters round 
their necks, and bearing the keys of the city in their 
hands." All were affected at the sad sight — even the 
soldiers wept; but Edward remained firm, ''for he hated 
those of Calais for the great damage and checks which 
they had caused to his ships in bygone times." The 



CREOY ANT) CALAIS. 



117 




EDWARD AND Ti'iE CITIZENS OF CALAIS. 



ii8 



THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWAKD III. 



noble Queen Philippa at last threw herself at the feet of 
the stern king, and by her gentle pleading induced her 
husband to spare the unfortunate citizens. 

A truce, at first made for a few months, was after- 
wards renewed from time to time ; and finally a dread- 
ful plague, which at this time devastated Europe, led to 
a long cessation of hostilities. 



1. Poissy, on tlie Seine, a few miles below 

Paris. 

2. Crecy, in Picardy, 50 miles south of Calais. 

3. The" battle was fought on the 2Gth of 

August 1346. 

4. Eyen, eyes. 

5. This extract is from Lord Berners's transla- 

tion of Froissart's Chronicles. 

6. The English archers were placed in front of 

the army, in a kind of harrow-shaped 
formation. 

7. The Prince of Wales was born in 1330. 

8. The loss of the French in this battle was 

enormous: 11 princes, 1200 knights, and 



30,000 of inferior rank were killed. Among 
the slain was the blind King of Bohemia, 
from whose standard, according to the 
story, the crest of the Prince of Wales 
was taken. 

Calais remained in the hands of the English 
continuously from 1347 to 1558. 

Oriflamme (from the Latin auriflamma, a 
golden flame) was the royal banner of 
France. It was sacred to St. DenLs, the 
patron saint of France, and its presence 
was regarded as a presage of victory. It 
was of red silk, embroidered with golden 
lilies and split into three points. 



THE PESTILENCE— RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES. 

THE Black Death. — This dreadful disease, which be- 
gan to devastate Europe in the year 1348, com- 
menced its ravages in Asia and spread over the wliole of 
the hnoivn world. It received its name from black spots 
which covered the bodies of its victims. Medicine seemed 
to have no power to avert the doom of those affected by 
it, for death almost certainly followed within three or 
four days after the attack. 

As to the cause of this plague, little is known.^ Many 
ascribe the ' Death ' to a great convulsion of the earth's 
surface, which, by destroying myriads of animals and 
plants, polluted the atmosphere with the putiid remains. 
It is said that the poisoned air was visible as it swept 
onwards in its deadly course ; ''a dense and awful fog 



i 



THE PESTILENCE— RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES. 119 

was seen in the heavens, rising in the East and descend- 
ing upon Italy," 

Whatever may have been the cause of this deadly 
plague, its course can be distinctly traced. From China, 
it spread slowly eastward till it reached the Mediter- 
ranean and the Black Sea ; next, it swept down upon 
Constantinople and the great cities of Italy,^ and from 
these centres it spread its fatal influence over the rest 
of Europe. In Great Britain, from one-third to one- 
half of the entire population certainly perished.^ 

So great a mortality produced very extraordinary effects. 
Many of those attacked were driven, in their despair, to 
self-slaughter, and thousands, though untouched by the 
disease, died of fear amid the fearful mortality around 
them. A maddening sense of guilt and dread of coming 
punishment drove many others to wander over Europe in 
bands* — lashing themselves with terrible scourges, sing- 
ing penitential psalms, and warning all that the great 
day of judgment was at hand. 

The Battle of Poitiers : 1356. — War was renewed in 
1355, and the Black Prince led an army from Bordeaux 
right up the Garonne, and across the watershed to the 
Mediterranean coast. This march reveals to us the 
worst aspect of the age of ' chivalry.' Five hundred 
towns and villages were ruthlessly destroyed ; and, with 
brutal indifference, the poor citizens and peasants were 
left houseless and starving to meet the hardships of 
the coming winter. 

A similar expedition set out in the following year, 
and carried death and terror into the very heart of 
France. The invading force had almost reached the 
river Loire, when the French King cut off their line of 
retreat near Poitiers.^ So overwhelming was the army 



I20 



THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD IIT. 



opposed to him, that the Black Prince would gladly 
have agreed to any honourable terms. But the exulting 
enemy demanded the immediate surrender of himself 
and a hundred knights ; to this neither he nor his brave 
soldiers would agree, and so they prepared themselves 
to fight ' as they were able/ 

The English leader showed himself to be as consum- 
mate a soldier as his father. He posted his men in 
such a position that the cavalry of the enemy could not 
easily attack them. One narrow road, passing through 

a country cut up into 
numerous vineyards, 
alone led up to the 
English front; and the 
skilful prince lined the 
hedges on each side 
of this path with the 
sharpshooters of his 
army. 

The archers again 
won the victory ; for, 
as the first division of 
the French pressed 
through the defile, their cloth-yard shafts soon blocked 
up the narrow pass with dead and wounded — those in 
front strove to retreat, those in the rear pressed on, and 
soon the confusion became general. The Black Prince 
then led an attack against the second body of the enemy, 
and after a fierce combat made himself master of the field. 
Meanwhile, a flank attack of English horse had spread a 
panic through the third battalion of the French, and the 
battle ended in a final struggle round the person of the king. 
That monarch, with his youngest son by his side, fought 




THE PESTILENCE— RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES. 121 

most bravely. His boy seemed to keep his anxious eje 
in constant motion : '' Guard the right, sire ! " " Watch 
the left, sire ! " he called out, as each danger threatened 
the noble king. All was in vain, for both father and 
son were taken captive. 

Just as the cruel expeditions of the Black Prince 
show the brutal aspect of chivalry, so the capture of 
King^ John reveals to us its noble side. The royal 
prisoner was treated with most refined courtesy, the 
Prince of Wales waiting upon him as his servant, and 
saying that he was not worthy to sit down at table with 
so great a sovereign and so valiant a knight. A few 
months later, too, when the victorious army entered 
London, King Edward came forward to meet the van- 
quished foe ' as if he were a conqueror rather than a 
captive ; and John rode upon a splendid steed at the 
head of the procession, while the Black Prince, mounted 
upon a small black horse, attended like a page by his 
side. 

Little need be said of the concluding battles of this 
reign. The English won many victories, but never 
seemed nearer the conquest of the unhappy land. A 
peace was accordingly agreed to in 1360, by which 
Edward resigned his claim to the French throne and 
received the independent sovereignty of certain provinces 
in the south-west and extreme north-east of France. 
This treaty^ was never carried out, for the national spirit 
of the French was, even in the midst of misery and 
suffering, resolutely opposed to the dismemberment of 
their country. 

The Black Prince allowed himself to be drawn into a 
Spanish war, from which he came back, crowned indeed 
with added glory, but shattered in health and ruined in 



122 



THE PL ANTAGENETS -EDWARD III. 



fortune. Whenever he took the field, success attended 
his arms ; but he was seldom able again for active 
service, and had finally to return home. Before his 




KING JOHN AND THE BLACK PRINCE ENTERING LONDON. 

death,^ England had lost not only her conquests, but her 
hereditary possessions; ^^ and thus the victories of Crecy 
and Poitiers had only led to a more complete overthrow 



THE PESTILENCE— RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES. 123 

than any English king had suffered since the time of 
John. 

Death of the King (1377). — Edward died at Eich- 
mond, having lost all the popularity he had gained by the 
earlier glories of his French wars. He seemed to have 
become prematurely aged, and surrendered the cares of 
government to his sons — especially to John of Gaunt, 
Duke of Lancaster. The doting king had abandoned 
himself to a life of unworthy pleasure, and yielded com- 
pletely to the influence of a woman called Alice Ferrers, 
who brought public contempt upon the Crown by inter- 
fering with the administration of justice. 

The scene of this monarch's death forms a sad com- 
mentary upon his life of glory. The wretched old man 
died deserted even by his servants, who were busied in 
plundering his palace. Not one kindly hand would have 
supported his dying head had not a faithful priest knelt 
praying by his side, leaving him not until he had drawn 
his last expiring sigh. 



Arago, tlie astronomer, suggests that the 
earth may have passed through the deadly 
vapour emanating from some comet. Cer- 
tain fanatics declared that the Jews had 
poisoned the wells, and thousands of God's 
ancient people were cruelly slain. 

This was the age of the great Italian repub- 
lics—Florence, Genoa, Venice, (fee. 

In Europe 25,000,000 died. Fully one-third of 
the population of the known world must 
have been swept away. 

Called Flagellants, or Scourgers. 



5. Poitiers, in Poitou, GO miles south of Tours. 
C. The Philip of Crecy had died in 1350, and had 
been succeeded by John. 

7. There were now two royal captives in Eng- 

land—John of France and David of Scot- 
land. 

8. Called the Treaty of Bretigny, or the Great 

Peace. 

9. The Black Prince died in 1.376. 

10. Nothing remained but Calais, Bordeaux, 
Bayonne, and a few less important towns 
on the Dordogne. 




124 THE PL ANT AGENETS— EDWARD III. 



PARLIAMENT AND PEOPLE. 

PROGRESS of the House of Commons.— During this 
long reign of fifty years, some seventy Parliaments 
had met ; and, amid all the glory of foreign victories, in 
spite of many arbitrary acts of the king, we can trace 
a steady advance in the influence and power of the 
Commons. 

In previous struggles with the Crown, it was the 
Baronage who always stood forward as the defenders of 
the liberties of England,^ the champions of the national 
cause, and the enemies of any illegal exercise of power 
on the part of the king. But with the reign of Edward 
II. the Barons began to play a baser part. They boldly 
usurped the powers they had formerly opposed in the 
monarch. It thus became the duty of the Commons to 
resist not only the arbitrary action of the Crown, but the 
encroachments of the great lords ; and, from this time 
forward, the Lower House appears in our history as the 
Guardian of the Constitution. 

In accordance with this change of relationship between 
the Peers ^' and the Commons, we find the latter choosing 
a Speaker^ in the earlier part of the reign, and beginning 
to sit in a separate chamber two years later.* It will be 
interesting to notice a few of the more important steps 
in their advance.^ 

In the first place, they not only confirmed the prac- 
tice of coupling redress of grievances with grants of 
money,^ but they completely estahlished their right to in- 
quire into abuses of administration. At the beginning 
of each Parliament, the great public functionaries were 
required to resign their offices in order that their conduct 



PARLIAMENT AND PEOPLE. 125 

slioulcl be examined ; ^ and, near the end of the reign, 
they even more completely vindicated this right by 
impmcliing ^ and bringing to punishment certain offend- 
ing servants of the Crown. 

In the second place, advancing beyond the maladmini- 
stration of ministers, they attacked certain prerogatives 
claimed by the Crown itself. Hitherto the king had 
claimed the strange privilege of seizing, while on his 
journeys, carriages, horses, food, and whatever else he 
might require. As the crowned spoiler seldom conde- 
scended to pay for what he took, and as his immediate 
attendants and the great lords (each in his own district) 
dutifully followed the august example of their sovereign, 
this usage had become a monstrous and intolerable bur- 
den to the people. This right of Furveyance, as it was 
called, was now limited to what was required for the 
king and queen alone ; and it was further enacted that 
payment of smaller sums should be made on the spot, 
and of larger ones within four months. 

A bill of still greater importance was passed in i 3 5 I . 
This was the celebrated Statute of Treasons.^ Up to 
that time, offences of the most varied kind and degree 
could by legal ingenuity be included under the dreadful 
name of treason ; and hundreds had suffered forfeiture, 
imprisonment, and even the penalty of death itself, for 
comparatively trivial breaches of the law. To prevent 
such injustice, this great measure distinctly specified the 
crimes which alone were to be regarded as of this degree ; 
and so great was the feeling of relief, that the assembly 
which passed this beneficent law has ever since been 
known as The Blessed Parliament. 

These and other changes indicate that the chief 
power-— which had, after the conquest, been held by 



126 THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWAKD III. 



n 



the Crown, and liad lately been seized by tlie Barons — 
was slowly, but surely, passing (with its accompanying- 
duty of defending the liberties of England) into the 
hands of the representatives of the people. 

The Black Plague produced effects still more lasting. 
The removal of so large a proportion of the inhabitants 
of Europe shook the whole fabric of society ; particularly, 
it changed the relation between employer and employed. 
Thousands of farms lay uncultivated, and great industries 
were brought to a standstill from the scarcity of labour ; 
it followed, as a natural consequence, that the survivors 
should demand higher remuneration for their services, 
and should refuse to work at the former rates. 

On the other hand, the noble and moneyed classes, 
who alone were represented in Parliament, would not 
tolerate so daring an innovation. Accordingly, they 
passed a series of most oppressive and foolish laws. TKus, 
in the Statute of Zahourers,^^ it was enacted that every 
able-bodied man should serve any one who required him 
at the old wages ; and any employer who paid more was 
to be fined thrice the sum given. They also retarded 
the emancipation of the serfs by decreeing that even free 
labourers should quit neither the parish of their birth 
nor the occupation of their fathers. 

Classes of Society. — Although the House of Com- 
mons was even then the most popular assembly in 
Europe, the great mass of the population had still no 
voice in the government of the nation. The Commons 
in Parliament really consisted of but two classes — the 
Knights of the Shire,^'^ who were chosen from the country I 
gentry and were the neighbours and friends of the 
Barons, and the Burgesses, who were elected by and 
from the wealthy or merchant section of the citizens 



II 



PARLIAMENT AND PEOPLE. 127 

only. Now, beneath tliese moneyed men, came the 
great body of the artisan and labouring classes "^^ — alto- 
gether unrepresented and regarded as politically power- 
less, but soon to make their voice heard in a terrible 
manner as they insisted upon their rights. Many of 
these lower commons were as yet merely serfs,^^ and had 
never known the blessings of freedom. 

Bacon says that we must not mistake the people who 
make the most noise for the only inhabitants ; and it is 
no less true that those changes in a nation's condition 
which appear upon the statute book, are not always, by 
any means, the most important. Now, the aholition of 
mllenage ^^ in England was a reform of the unnoticed 
and (as one might say) of the silent kind. 

The mighty movement had been in progress during 
the whole Plantagenet period — unobserved, indeed, amid 
the more brilliant pageants of the times, but resistless 
in its slow advance and splendid in its results. As the 
coral insect is unweariedly at work, unseen and un- 
dreamt of, during the many ages that glide past ere its 
reefs and islands rear their heads above the waves ; so 
the agencies leading to the emancipation of the English 
serfs are hardly noticed by the student of history, until, 
lo ! as if by the sudden interference of some Genius of 
the Lamp or Ring^^ — the generous act of some lofty 
spirit of intelligence and love — a free people, full of 
courage and sturdy independence, in the truest sense 
their ' country's pride,' is found living in comfort, where 
formerly an oppressed multitude of slaves had trembled 
beneath the tyranny of their frowning taskmaster. 

The most potent of the beneficent forces which pro- 
duced this magnificent result was the maternal influ- 
ence of the Chnrclij undoubtedly the chief civiliser of the 



128 



THE PLANTAGENETS— EDWARD III. 



Middle Ages. As early as the beginning of the twelfth 
century, it had forbidden the selling of men for slaves ; ^^ 
and, during the generations that followed, as long as 
serfs were still legally attached to the soil, it had con- 
tinued its blessed work. In its eyes, all men were 
equal ; it refused not to receive into the holy ranks of 
its priesthood even the sons of bondsmen, and its minis- 
ters constantly impressed upon dying lords the solemn 
duty of setting free their slaves. 

This noble transformation was not yet quite complete, 
and it suffered a severe check from a dreadful plague, 
which swept away millions of people in this reign ; but, 
by the end of the French war and of the civil strife which 
followed it, slaves had for ever ^ ceased to breathe in 
England.' 



1. See, e.g., pp. 52, 56. 

2. Peers, this name for the House of Lords be- 

gan to be used in the reign of Edward II. 

3. Speaker, the Chairman or President of the 

House of Commons. 

4. 1342. 

5. It is worth noticing that members of the 

Commons were paid at this time, the 
knights of the shire receiving four shil- 
lings a day and the burghers two. 

6. This practice was introduced in the previous 

reign. 

7. At the present time every member of the 

House of Commons accepting any office 
under the Crown must resign and otter 
liiiiistdf to his constituents for re-election. 

8. In an impeachment the Commons act as 

accusers, the Peers as judges. The first 



minister impeaclied was Lord Latimer, 
Chamberlain, in 1376. 
9. Treason strictly means the crime of one who 
is a traitor to his king and country. 

10. Passed in 1351. 

11. Corresponding to our county members. 

12. The Barons desired power ; the higher Com- 

mons, good administration of the finances ; 
the lower Commons, freedom. 

13. In 1086 one-eleventh of the population of 

England was registered in the Domesday 
Book as serfs. 

14. Villenage. The old word villein simply 

meant a serf, one attached to a ville, or 
Tillage. 

15. From tlie well-known story of Aladdin and 

the Lamp in the Arabian Nights. 

16. At the Synod of Westminster in 1106. 




SON OF THE BLACK PRINCE ON THE THRONE. 129 




THE SON OF THE BLACK PRINCE ON 
• THE THRONE. 

1377-1399. 

^ HE Rise of the Pactions. 
— The loss of the richest 
provinces 



of France had 
poured into England a great 
military class/ unused to 
inaction, accustomed to live 
in splendour on the spoil 
wrung from a conquered 
country, and not possessed 
either of wealth or land to 
keep up their wonted state. 
These men gradually joined 
themselves to the great nobles 
as paid retainers — adopting the liveries of their various 
leaders, ready to stand together in defence of one another, 
and bound by honour to fight in any quarrel of their 
chief The wealthy nobles eagerly welcomed such men ; 
for the greater the number of these ' maintainers ' (as 
they were called) a man had, the more influential a voice 
he had in the affairs of the country. 

At last, England became too small to support so many 
separate armies ; and the barons gradually grouped them- 
selves into hostile parties — each of which strove to ex- 
terminate the other. From time to time, the nominal 
pretext for their feuds varied ; but the struggle for 
existence was really the primary cause of these numerous 
' faction fights ' which culminated in the Wars of the 
Roses. 



KICHAKD II. 



(3) 



I30 THE PL ANTAGENETS -RICHARD IT. 

At the beginning of this reign, two of these armed 
camps confronted one another. In the one was gathered 
the majority of the barons, forming what might be 
called an anti-clerical party — jealous of the influence of 
the prelates in the Government,^ covetous of the great 
wealth of the Church which would be so convenient for 
the support of their ' maintainers,' and proclaiming 
their anxiety to renew vigorously the French war. The 
leader of this " faction " was John of Gaunt, Duke of 
Lancaster, who had, for the time being, lost all popu- 
larity because of the military disasters of the previous 
reign and the bad administration of finance. 

The rival or ^ national ' party had been led by the 
Black Prince. It supported the old Government by a 
Parliament of Barons, Prelates, and Commons ; and its 
desires might be expressed (in modern phraseology) 
as ^ Peace, Retrenchment, and Reform.' In its camp 
were the whole of the clergy, and a few of the old 
nobility with the great body of the representative Com- 
mons and the rich merchant class. This faction declared 
that the Duke of Lancaster had designs upon the throne, 
and accordingly excluded him and the rest of the King's 
uncles from the Council appointed to govern during the 
King's minority. 

Accession of the King*. — The strife between the two 
factions was, however, hushed into peace, as all gathered 
at Westminster to witness the coronation of the little 
son of the Black Prince.^ The troubles of the last years 
of Edward III.'s reign seemed, for the moment, to be 
forgotten ; and men poured out upon the young king 
the affection which had been won by his renowned 
father. As the wearied child was borne towards his 
palace after the excitement of the day, the populace 



SON OF THE BLACK PRINCE ON THE THRONE. 131 

hailed him with enthusiastic loyalty ; and no one could 
have dreamt that the prince so joyously crowned would 
fall by the hand of the assassin in a gloomy prison 

cell 

Great danger threatened the country. The ships of 
the French king swept the channel ; Eye and Wmchelsea 
were both attacked, and a descent was made upon the 
Isle of Wight. Accordingly, the Commons strove to 
brino- about a reconciliation between the two parties. 
Whe'k asked to take steps for the defence of the realm 
they advised that Lancaster should become President of 
the Council of Peers chosen for the purpose." 

Before granting any supplies, however, they insisted 
that the money slionld he paid into the hands of two 
treasurers named hy themselves, who were to be charged 
not to allow it to be diverted from the purpose for which 

it was intended. 

The war was quite unsuccessful; the coasts were 
ravaged by the enemy, Lancaster was defeated, and the 
Scots laid siege to Berwick. It thus became necessary 
to raise money for the carrying on of the war and for the 
defence of the realm. For this purpose, a poll-tax was 
levied,' but produced not half the sum required. Accord- 
ingly 'in I 380, a second payment was imposed on every 
male and female above the age of fifteen. The tax pressed 
very heavily on the poorer classes, and the rough way 
in which it was exacted greatly incensed the people. 

The outbreak took place in Kent. A brutal collector 
offered a rude insult to the daughter of a tiler « at Dart- 
ford. The father, hearing the shrieks of his wife and 
child leaped down from the roof where he was working 
and smote the ruffian to the earth with his lathmg-staff. 
This was the signal for a great insurrection, for the whole 



132 THE PLANTAGENETS— RICHAKD II. 

country was in an excited state, and a spark was suffi- 
cient to kindle a great conflagration. 

The Insurrection of the Serfs. — At this time the 
oppressed peasants all over Europe were struggling to- 
wards emancipation from thraldom. In England the 
wretched serfdom, the oppressive laws passed after the 
Black Plague, the return from war of the common 
soldiers (who told how they-^ and oiot the 7ioUes, had won 
the famous victories), the preaching of the friars ' and of 
Wicliffe, all had stirred into life the dormant spirit of 
freedom in the hearts of the villeins. The free peasant 
and the artisan, ground down till they felt that it 
was as good to perish as to labour in misery, joined the 
movement ; and the insurrection soon spread westward 
to Hampshire and northward to the Humber. 

Each County had its chosen " King of the Commons ;"^ 
thus the men of Kent assembled under Wat Tyler, and 
Essex followed a priest called Jack Straw. The insur- 
gents declared themselves loyal subjects of King Richard, 
and although, as we shall see, they acted in a very 
violent and revolutionary way, the rising was, in fact, 
one for freedom from great oppression. 

A hundred thousand men assembled at Blackheath, 
where a popular preacher named John Ball ^ addressed 
them on the injustice of slavery and the natural equality 
of men. He took as his text the popular couplet — 

" When Adam delved and Eve span, 
"Who was then the gentleman?" 

On the I 2th of June, ten thousand of them waited 
at Rotherhithe on the Thames for the promised coming 
of the king. The young Richard wished to hear their 
complaints ; but at the sight of the royal barge they 



SON OF THE BLACK PRINCE ON THE THRONE. 



^jj 



uttered the most dreadful cries, and their bearing 
was so hostile that the king was not allowed to trust 
himself in their midst. Bidding his men rest on 
their oars at a little distance from the bank, he asked 
the mob what requests they had to make. The}' an- 
swered not, but shouted to him to come ashore. No ! 
no ! " said one of the courtiers, " you are not properly 
dressed, gentlemen." 

The furious crowd then streamed along the river side 
towards the capital. At first, they were refused admit- 
tance ; but finally they were allowed to pass across London 
Bridge, and to spread themselves over the city. Then 
they acted with great violence, breaking open Newgate 
and other prisons, setting fire to the palace of the Savoy,^^ 
and cruelly murdering many Flemish merchants whom 
they ignorantly hated as foreigners. At the same time, 
however, strict orders had been issued against theft; and 
one knave, detected pilfering a goblet or bowl of money 
from the burning Savoy, was hurled into the flames. 

On the 14th, the king met the more orderly portion 
of the insurgents ^^ at Mile End, a pleasant meadow used 
for the sports of the citizens. There they made known 
their demands, which were very moderate. They simply 
asked the abolition of villenage ; that the rent of land 
should be lowered, and fixed at fourpence an acre ; that 
all should have liberty to buy and sell at fairs and 
markets ; and that a general pardon be proclaimed. 

Richard granted all their requests, and thirty clerks 
were employed to draw out rapidly the royal letters of 
pardon and redress. The gratified insurgents then 
quietly returned home. 

Thirty thousand of the wilder spirits, however, remained 
with Wat Tyler. During the meeting at Mile End, they 



134 



THE PLANTAGENETS— RICHARD IL 



n 




THE DEATH OF WAT TYLEE. 



SON OF THE BLACK PRINCE ON THE THRONE. 135 

had plundered the Tower ; and put to death those of 
their enemies whom they could capture. These men, 
Richard met at Smithfield on the following day. When 
he appeared, Wat Tyler spurred his horse forward to 
meet him. While in the presence of the king, the 
rebel leader had a rude altercation ^^ with one of the 
monarch's attendants, and in his anger laid his hand 
upon his dagger. Enraged at this apparent threat 
against his sovereign, Sir W^illiam Walworth, the Lord 
Mayor, struck the rebel to the ground ; and he was 
then quickly despatched. 

^' Our captain is slain ! Let us avenge his death," 
was the cry that burst from the enraged multitude. 
Ten thousand bows were bent, and the little party 
round the king would certainly have perished had not 
Richard, although but fourteen years of age, galloped 
boldly up to the surging crowd. " Friends ! " he cried 
with great coolness and courage, '' what are you about 
to do ? Would you slay me ? Wat Tyler was a 
traitor ! I will be your leader ! " 

With such words as these, the gallant boy persuaded 
the mob to follow him quietly to the open fields at 
Islington. There they were surrounded by a body of 
armed men, and forced to ask for mercy. The king 
would not allow them to be harmed, but promised to 
pardon them and permitted them to return home. 

When Parliament met, however, it compelled the king 
to withdraw all his concessions. When he urged the 
reasonableness of at least abolishing villenage, he found 
that the representative Commons were the most clamor- 
ous opponents of this wise proposal. They showed how 
little sympathy they had with the mass of the suffering 
people. To every argument they answered, " The slaves 



1^6 



THE PLANTAGENETS— RICHARD II. 



^^m 



are ours ! " and even forced the king to recall the^ardon 
he had granted. 

Accordingly, a large number of the rebels were exe- 
cuted, and the great rising came to an end, seeming to 
have but increased the load of suffering borne by the 
unhappy people. 



1. See page 108, where it is shown (1) that 

chivalry had replaced feudalism, and (2) 
that the paid professional soldier had 
taken the place of the old feudiil follower. 

2. The prelates furnished the majority of the 

statesmen of the period. 

3. Richard was born in 1367, and was now ten 

years old. 

4. Tlie Commons here took a backward step. 

They had at first dealt only with money 
bills ; they gave that reason for naming: a 
Council of Peers, saying that, they them- 
selves had nothing to do with matters of 
state. 



5. Poll-tax, a tax of so much a head, i.e., on 

each person The first tax ranged from 4d. 
to a peasant to £6 13s. 4d. to an earl. 

6. Tiler, a slater or roofmaker. 

7. See page 69. 

8. The name 'King of the Commons' was actu- 

ally used by the rebel leaders in Norfolk 
and Suffolk. 

9. Ball had been rescued from Maidstone jail. 

10. The Savoy, in the Strand, belonged to the 

then unpopular John of Gaunt. 

11. Probably those from Essex and the district 

north of the Thames. 

12. Altercation, quarrel, dispute. 



A PERIOD OF REVOLUTION. 
1382-1399. 



THE Barons and the King".— The alarm caused by 
the rising of the serfs seems to have, for a short 
time, led the rival factions to moderate their hostility ; 
but mutual distrust soon manifested itself, and eventually 
led to a series of the most violent attacks upon the con- 
stitution. It also paralysed all national efforts, for 
whatever public enterprise was supported by one party 
was certain to be frustrated by the jealousy of the other.^ 
At length, John of Gauntj weary of the perpetual atmos- 
phere of suspicion and doubt, withdrew to Spain, leav- 
ing the leadership of his party in the hands of his 
brother Thomas, Duke of Gloucester.^ 

As the King grew up, he became more and more 



A PERIOD OF REVOLUTION. _ 137 

impatient of the control of the Council, and began to 
choose his favourites and advisers for himself. Now, 
llichard, who was very handsome, was devoted to plea- 
sure and most luxurious in his style of life. Accordingly, 
he was fond of favourites ^ who could amuse and delight 
him, and he allowed mere personal gratification and 
liking to outweigh all considerations of kingly duty. 
In this respect, he was following in the very footsteps 
of his unhappy predecessor Edward II.* 

Again, among Richard's fixed ideas was one of in- 
veterate dislike of his own kinsmen. Accordingly, even 
the ministers he trusted were always 'new men,'^ and of 
the party opposed to his uncles. 

In both of these respects the King's action was very 
unfortunate ; for soon the older peers drew closer and 
closer together under the leadership of Gloucester, while 
the newer nobility gathered round the young Richard. 
Thus, for the rest of the reign, we have a life-and-death 
struggle between the Faction of the Barons and the 
Faction of the King. 

The Barons seize the Power.— The Barons struck 
the first blow. The French King had threatened a 
great invasion of England, and the cunning Gloucester 
appealed to the national feeling of indignation. "Whose 
fault was it," asked the people, " that the despised fugi- 
tives of Crecy and Poitiers were now^ threatening ' this 
royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle ' ? " "Of that 
minister," replied Gloucester, " who drove into exile the 
' time-honoured ' Lancaster — the mushroom Earl of 
Suffolk, the trusted adviser of the King, the all-powerful 
treasurer who did with the revenue what he pleased." 

Parliament insisted tliat inquiry should be made into 
the administration of the finances, but Richard petu-- 



138 THE PLANTAGENETS— RICHARD II. 

lantly said that he would not dismiss the meanest varlet 
in his kitchen for Parliament. In spite of this, Suffolk 
was impeached, dismissed from office and imprisoned. 

Nor was this all ; for the king was compelled, by 
an ominous reference to the deposition of Edward II., 
to agree to the appointment of a commission of regency. 
The power of the commissioners was to be absolute, and 
it was declared to be treason even to counsel opposition. 
This marks the first great revolution of the reign ; the 
estahlishment of a despotic baronial oligarchy m place of 
a liriiitecl constitutional monarchy.^ 

Some of the barons were prepared, even then, to de- 
pose the king ; and all of them were determined that he 
should have no advisers chosen from any party but their 
own. Accordingly, in i 388, a Parliament was summoned 
which set itself to exterminate all the leaders of the 
king's faction — favourites, ministers, judges, personal 
friends were alike impeached and swept away. So stern 
were the proceedings of this assembly that it has ever 
since been known as ' The Wonderful and Merciless 
Parliament.' 

The King" Absolute. — A year afterwards, the king, 
who had given no indication of his purpose, quietly as- 
sumed the power. At a meeting of the council, he 
asked Gloucester how old he was. " Twenty-two, sire," 
replied the Duke. '' Then," said the king, " I am now 
of age ; and, like every other heir in my kingdom, am 
old enough to manage my own afiairs. I thank you all 
for the trouble you have taken for me, but shall here- 
after require your services no longer." 

Richard now seemed to have forgotten his old dis- 
likes, and for eight years ruled extremely well. Much 
of this wise conduct was due to the gentle influence of 



A PERIOD OF REVOLUTION. 139 

the good Queen Anne ; but that princess died in i 394. 
Two years later, the king married Isabella of France ; 
and strengthened by this alliance, he seems to have 
prepared himself to take vengeance for the doings of the 
Wonderful Parliament. The moderation of his rule 
had stilled all the suspicions of the barons, some of 
whom had actually withdrawn from Gloucester, and 
joined themselves to the king/ 

At last the hour had come. Gloucester and his two 
most devoted friends, Warwick and Arundel, were sud- 
denly arrested. The first named was residing at his castle 
of Pleshy in Essex. Thither went his royal nephew with 
a gay train, and was most courteously received. But, 
while the gorgeously dressed and smiling hypocrite was 
engaging his aunt the Duchess in 'friendly' conversa- 
tion, the Earl Marshall dragged the aged Duke across 
his own lawn towards the river, where he was then 
thrown into a boat, rowed out to a ship, and borne away 
to distant Calais. 

This son of the ' Great Edward ' was never aerain 
seen by his friends. When Parliament called for him 
to receive judgment, the Earl Marshall coolly replied 
that " he could not bring the Lord Duke, for he had 
been dead for several days at Calais." 

All believed that Gloucester had been foully mur- 
dered. His adherents swore to inflict a punishment as 
bloody as the crime ; and the people looked askance upon 
a young king who could keep so long the memory of a 
past offence, and could take, even upon the aged brother 
of his glorious father, so cruel a revenge. 

The obsequious assembly now granted to Richard the 
tax on wool and hides for life, and appointed a com- 
mittee to represent Parliament for the future. This con- 



I40 THE PLANTAGENETS— RICHAED II. 

stitutes the second revolution of this reign. The former 
had given to an oligarchy powers greater than those of 
the king ; this made the monarch absolute, and handed 
over to a few of his supporters the whole of the func- 
tions of Parliament. 

Fall of Richard. — Henry, the son of John of Gaunt, 
was now made Duke of Hereford ; and the Earl Mar- 
shall who arrested Gloucester was created Duke of 
Norfolk. These two barons (formerly friends of the 
murdered noble, and therefore still hated by the king) 
now quarrelled, and Hereford accused Norfolk of trea- 
sonable conversation. This charge, Norfolk declared to 
be false. 

As was frequently done in those times in disputes 
between knights, the matter was referred to a Court of 
Chivalry ; and it was agreed to settle the question by 
a wager of battle. The fight was to take place at 
Coventry ; but, on the appointed day, when the marshal 
of the lists had called upon God to defend the right, 
and had even given his order, ' Sound trumpets ! Set 
forward, combatants ! ' the king at the last moment 
stopped the encounter. He then, amid the greatest 
popular excitement, banished both of the dukes from 
the realm — Norfolk for life, Hereford for ten years. 

The latter, the king's own cousin, became the idol 
of the people ; they followed him in thousands to the 
ship which was to bear him away, and longed for the 
time of his return. 

Having thus got rid of all his opponents, Richard 
began to rule in a most arbitrary and oppressive way. 
None dared to speak against anything he did, and his 
favourites encouraged him to the most despotic acts. 
He gave himself up to a luxurious mode of living ; 



\ 



A PERIOD OF REVOLUTION. 141 

indeed, no former King of England ever kept np such 
state.^ To refill his empty exchequer, he compelled all 
who had been adherents of Gloucester to pay great sums 
of money for pardon, fined seventeen counties for having 
aided the same duke, and exacted forced loans from all 
the wealthy men in the kingdom.^ 

At this juncture the aged Duke of Lancaster died, 
and Richard illegally seized upon his estate. The 
rightful heir was the banished Henry of Hereford, and 
the people murmured loud at the injustice done to their 
absent favourite. Heedless of the gathering discontent, 
Richard led an expedition to Ireland ; and, while he was 
there, his cousin landed in Yorkshire, proclaiming that 
he had come merely to demand the property of his dead 
father. 

The barons and the populace alike thronged to the 
standard of the returned exile. The terrified ministers 
and favourites of the king fled to the west, but were 
given up to the triumphant duke, and put to death. 
An army which had been gathered for the king in 
Wales disbanded, and six thousand men who came over 
with Richard from Ireland went over to the foe. His 
very dog is said to have abandoned him, to lick • the 
hand of his enemy. 

The king was soon taken captive, and led in triumph 
to London. A Parliament met in autumn. Before its 
meeting, Richard had resigned his crown; but, in addi- 
tion, he was then solemnly deposed for having broken his 
coronation oath}^ His cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, Duke 
of Hereford and of Lancaster, was then appointed in his 
stead. 

The last scene of this wasted life took place at Ponte- 
fract Castle. A wasted life ! For the affection of Richard 



142 



THE PLANTAGENETS— RICHARD II. 



for his friends, the gleams of courage and power that 
now and then showed themselves, his refined literary 
tastes, make us feel that the son of the Black Prince 
could have been something nobler than the extravagant 
fop, the leader of fashion, and the hater of his kinsmen. 




DEATH OF RICHARD- 



None know certainly the manner of his death. Shakes- 
peare represents him as having been murdered in his 
cell, valiantly struggling with his base assassins. Others 
whispered that he was starved to death ; and yet others, 
weeping, told how the broken-hearted prisoner refused 



ENTRANCE OF BOLINGBROKE AND RICHARD. 143 

to eat, and willingly passed away from a world which 
had lost all charm for him. 



1. Thus both a French war and an invasion of 

Scotland ended in disaster, and were fol- 
lowed by accusation and counter-accusa- 
tion of treachery. 

2. His second wife, Constance of Castile, was 

heiress of Pedro the Cruel, King of Spain. 
See page 121. 

3. The chief of these was a man named De 

Vere, whom Richard made Earl of Oxford, 
Marquis of Dublin, and then Duke of Ire- 
land. 

4. See page 93. 

5. That is, not of the old noMlitp. The chief of 

these was Michael de la Pole, son of a rich 
merchant of Hull. Richard made him Earl 
of Suffolk. 

6. Richard held a secret council at Nottingham, 



which declared the action of the barons to 
be treasonable ; and an attempt was made 
to raise the army at Chester, but all failed. 

7. Among these were two who had taken a lead- 

ing part in the revolution of 1388, viz., 
Henry of Hereford, son of John of Gaunt, 
and Thomas Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham. 

8. He wore a dress enriched with gold, sdver, 

and precious stones, valued at 3000 merks 
or £2000— a sum equal to £3t),000 at the pre- 
sent time ! 

9. All of these charges referred to the time of 

the Wonderful Parliament, ten years be- 
fore. 
10. See page 93. Richard II., in many respects 
of life and character, resembled his equally 
unfortunate predecessor Edward II. 



ENTRANCE OF BOLINGBROKE AND THE 
CAPTIVE RICHARD INTO LONDON. ^ 

Duchess of YorJk. My lord, you told me, you would tell 
the rest, 
When weeping made joii break the story off 
Of our two cousins coming into London. 

York. Where did I leave ? 

Duch. At that sad stop, my lord, 
Where rude misgoverned ^ hands, from windows' tops. 
Threw dust and rubbish on King Richard's head. 

York. Then, as I said, the duke, great Bolingbroke, 
Mounted upon a hot and fiery steed, 
Which his aspiring ^ rider seemed to know, — 
With slow, but stately pace kept on his course. 
While all tongues cried — God save thee, Bolingbroke ! 
You would have thought the very windows spake, 
So many greedy looks of young and old 



144 THE PLANTAGENETS— RICHARD II. 

Throngli casements darted their desiring eyes 
Upon his visage ; and that all the walls, 
With painted imagery/ had said at once, — 
Jesu preserve thee ! Welcome Bolingbroke ! 
Whilst he, from one side to the other turning, 
Bare-headed, lower than his proud steed's neck, 
Bespake them thus, — I thank you, countrymen : 
And thus still doing, thus he passed along. 

Dnch. Alas, poor Richard ! where rides he the while ? 

York. As in a theatre, the eyes of men, 
After a well-graced actor leaves the stage, 
Are idly bent on him that enters next, 
Thinking his prattle to be tedious : 
Even so, or with much more contempt, men's eyes 
Did scowl on Richard ; no man cried, God save him ; 
No joyful tongue gave him his welcome home : 
But dust was thrown upon his sacred head ; 
Which with such gentle sorrow he shook off, — 
His face still combating with tears and smiles, 
The badges of his grief and patience, — 
That had not God, for some strong purpose, steeled 
The hearts of men, they must perforce have melted. 
And barbarism itself have pitied him. 
But Heaven had a hand in these events ; 
To whose high will we bound ^ our calm contents,^ 
To Bolingbroke we are sworn subjects now. 
Whose state and honour I for aye allow. 

Shakespeare, Eichard II., Act v. Scene ii. 



1. Tlie speakers are the Duke and Duchess of 

York, uncle and aunt of both Richard and 
Heiu-y. 

2. Misgoverned, unrestrained, 
o. Aspiring, ambitious. 



4. Tlie people gazing from the wiudowsare here i tent us. 



likened to painted cloths or banner tape- 
stry, so that the very walls seemed to speak. 

5. That is, in accordance with the will of Heaven 

we limit our desires. 

6. Contents here means, ' tliat which will con- 



THE UNQUIET TIME OF HENRY IV. 



H3 



//. LANCASTER AND YORK. 



THE UNQUIET TIME OF KING HENRY THE 

FOURTH.! 

ING by Parliamentary 
Title. — The new king 
was a man of soaring 
ambition and lofty pride. 
He had also great pru- 
dence, and could pursue 
consistently through a 
course of years any line 
of action upon which he 
had determined ; but his 
suspicious disposition fre- 
quently led him to oifend 
his supporters, and thus 
endangered the success of his wise policy. 

His position was indeed a most difficult one ; and 
Shakespeare represents him as ' wan with care,' unable 
to sleep, and lamenting that ' uneasy lies the head that 
wears a crown.' Henry lY. was king by parliamentary 
title alone ; and, in electing him to the throne. Parlia- 
ment had claimed a power never exercised since the 
time of the Saxon Witenagemote.^ On the deposition 
of Edward II., his son, the next heir, had been allowed 
to succeed f but, in removing Richard II. from the 
throne. Parliament had passed over the lineal successor 
and conferred the sovereignty on one who had not the 
hereditary right. 




HENRY IV. 



(3) 



K 



146 



LANCASTER AND YORK. 



TABLE SHOWING THE DESCENT OF THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER 

AND YORK. 



Edward III. 



1st Son. 



2nd Son. 



3rd Son 



6th Son. 



4th Son. 6 th Son. 



Edward, 

the Black 

Prince. 

I 
Richard II. 
died 1400. 



I i 

William, Lionel Edmund 

died 1335. of Clarence, of York. 

died 1368. 

Phi LIP PA 

= Edmund Mortimer, 

Earl of March. 

I 

Roger, Earl of March, 
died in 1398. 



John 
of Gaunt. 



Thomas, 

Duke of 

Gloucester, 

died 1397. 



Henry IV. 



i — i 

Edmund, Anne=Riohard, Henry V. 

Earl of March 4 I Earl of 

(Heir at accession of Henry I Cambridge, 
IV. ; died in 1424). I beheaded 

I 141.5. 



I 



Note. — The thick line indicates the 
direct hereditary descent. 



Richard, Duke 

of York 
(Fought against 
Henrv VI.) 

Edward IV. 



Henry VI. 



Edward 
(Killed at Tewkes- 
bury, 1471). 



In accepting the crown, Henry violated the feudal 
law for whose breach he had complained against Richard 
11.,^ and he might well look for the determined oppo- 
sition of a large section of the nobles. Accordingly, 
although he himself was animated by the aristocratic 
spirit, he sought to gain the aid of the Church. For 
this purpose, he passed very severe laws ^ against the Lol- 
lards,^ and even spoke of organising another Crusade — 

" To chase these pagans, in those holy fields, 
Over whose acres walked those blessed feet, 
Which, fourteen hundred years ago, were nail'd 
For our advantage on the bitter cross." ^ 

For the same reason, he was forced to yield to the 
demands of the House of Commons in order to maintain 



THE UNQUIET TIME OF HENRY IV. 147 

tliat popularity wliicli had borne him to the throne. 
Thus he played the part of the champion of order and 
law against baronial disorder and anarchy. It is for 
this reason that his comparatively short rule is very im- 
portant in our constitutional history. During the early 
years of this reign, while Henry was engaged in a great 
struggle for power, the Commons claimed the sole right of 
iiitroducijig money hills, and insisted that the king should 
not be present during the discussion of such measures. 
They also fully confirmed the system of fixing the special 
purposes for which their grants were to be used, and of pay- 
ing them to treasurers of their own appointment. Both of 
these principles have been maintained to the present day. 

The Lower House further asserted the privilege of 
freedom from arrest for its members during the session of 
Parliament, and that of presenting petitions to the king 
by word of mouth. Finally, by naming counsellors, 
whose advice the king was solely to follow but who were 
to have no power to interfere with the common law, they 
established a strictly limited monarchy at the very 
moment of Henry's greatest triumph.^ 

Attacks upon Henry's Power, 1399-1408. — For 
nine years Henry's position remained insecure. Hardly 
had he ascended the throne, when a conspiracy threatened 
both his life and his power. It completely failed ; and 
the leaders fell victims to the vengeance of the populace, 
who would brook no rising against their chosen prince. 

A far more serious danger next threatened the House 
of Lancaster. This was a great coalition, which united 
against the king not only the adherents of Kichard, but 
Henry's former friends the Percies of Northumberland, 
and the people of Wales. These were supported by a 
Scottish army and the promise of aid from France. 



148 LANCASTER AND YORK. 

The standard of revolt was first raised in Wales. 
There, a knight named Glendower ^'^ had been refused 
redress for the seizure of his lands and appealed to his 
fellow-countrymen to arm in defence of his rights. The 
Welsh, as a nation, rallied round him ; and the English 
king, in retaliation, put in force the severe laws of 
Edward I. against the mountaineers. Snow and storm 
proved Glendower's allies ; and even when Henry himself 
led an attack upon ' the great magician,' he was com- 
pletely repulsed ; and the victorious Cambrian was pro- 
claimed Prince of Wales. 

It was at this time ^^ that the Fercies ^^ made alliance 
with the rebel. They had been Henry's main supporters 
when he landed at Ravenspur to assert his rights against 
Richard ; but their great services had met with small 
reward,^^ and now they were still more deeply wounded. 
The younger Percy had married a sister of Edward 
Mortimer. This baron, it so happened, had been cap- 
tured by Glendower ; and, simply because he was uncle 
to the young Earl of March,^^ Henry refused to allow 
him to be ransomed.^^ 

The Scots had been won over to the cause of the 
insurgents very curiously. A Scottish force had invaded 
the north of England, and had been defeated by Percy at 
the battle of Homildon Hill}^ Their leader, the martial 
Earl of Douglas, was captured, and then formed a 
warm friendship for the fiery Hotspur. He accordingly 
promised to join in the combined attack. 

The conspirators in England gathered an army under 
the pretext of a proposed expedition against Scotland, and 
then hurried to the west to join Glendower. Before the 
junction could be effected, the royal army had overtaken 
them at Shrewsbury}" Terms were offered to the rebels, 



THE UNC^UIET TIME OF HENRY IV. 



149 



but were "haughtily refused — " the Douglas and the Hot- 
spur both together are confident against the world in arms." 
Then was fought one of the fierce and bloody battles 
which were so frequent in the long struggle between 
Lancaster and York. Henry IV. directed his troops 
very skilfully ; but victory was largely due to the gallant 
conduct of the young Prince Hal, who gave promise of 

that prowess which was short- 
ly afterwards to win him 
immortal renown upon the 
plains of France. The 
rebels were totally 
defeated. Hot- 

spur was slain, 
Douglas cap- 
tured, and 
Glendower dri- 
ven to the hills. 
Shakespeare gives 
a graphic account of 
the fall of the gallant 
Percy.^^ 

Close of the Eeign. 
Northumberland made 
two further attempts 
to overthrow his enemy, and was finally slain at Bramham 
Moor, near Tadcaster, in Yorkshire.-^^ 

Towards the end of the reign, Henry, whose health 
grew very feeble,^^ became suspicious of the able and 
popular Prince of Wales.^^ Shakespeare makes Prince 
Henry give the following impassioned reply to his father, 
who had reproached him for having lifted the crown and 
placed it on his own head : — 




"ACCUSING IT, I PUT IT ON MY HEAD.' 



ISO 



LANCASTER AND YORK. 



" There is your crown ; 
And He that wears the crown immortally- 
Long guard it yours ! . . . . 
Accusing it, I put it on my head ; 
To try with it, — as with an enemy, 
That had before my face murder'd my father ^3 — 
The quarrel of a true inheritor. 
But if it did infect my blood with joy, 
Or swell my thoughts to any strain of pride ; 
If any rebel or vain spirit of mine 
Did, with the least affection of a welcome, 
Give entertainment to the might of it ; 
Let God for ever keep it from my head ! 
And make me as the poorest vassal is, 
That doth with awe and terror kneel to it ! '* 

The king at last succumbed to the terrible disease 
which had so often nearly proved fatal to him. He died 
at Westminster in 1 4 1 3 , and was buried at Canterbury. 



This is the title of the first of the eight chap- 
ters of Hall's Chronicle, ' The Union of the 
Two Noble and Illustrate Families of Lan- 
castre and Yorke.' 

Witenagemote, the meeting of the ivise men, 
the great council of the Saxons. They had 
the power of electing the king. 

See page 96. 

Henry kept in captivity this young earl— the 
lineal heir to the throne. 

That is, when Richard seized the estates of 
Henry's father, John of Gaunt. See p. 
141. 

The most severe law was passed in 1401. 
By it, any person condemned for heresy 
WHS to be handed over to the civil power 
and publicly burned. 

Lollards, the followers of AVicliffe. The 
word comes from the German, 'lollen.'to 
hum or drone : it was a term of contempt, 
aTid means the ' psalm-singing drones.' 

8. Shakespeare's Henry IV., Part I. act i. sc. 1. 

9. 1407, after the dangers to his throne had 

passed away. 
10. Glendower. He had held a high position in 
Ri<;liard II. 's court, and claimed to be de- 
scended from Llewellyn. Both his fol- 



C. 



7. 



lowers and his foes believed that he had 
magic power. 

11. In 1402. 

12. The Percies. The Earl of Northumberland 

and his son Henry— surnamed Hotspur. 

13. Henry IV. owed them £20,000, and always 

deferred payment. He had slighted them 
in other ways. 

14. See the table in this Lesson. 

15. Mortimer soon solved the difficulty by marry- 

ing the daughter of Glendower and acknow- 
ledging his title as Prince of Wales. 

16. Homildon Hill, near Wooler, in Northumber- 

land. Fought in 1402. 

17. In 140.3. 

18. The teacher should here read Shakespeare's 

account, Henry IV., Part I. act iv. sc. 4. 

19. His two attempts were in 1405 and 1408. 

20. He was first attacked with leprosy, and after- 

wards suffered from epileptic l^ts. 

21. Stories are told of this prince's wild and 

dissipated conduct in youth ; the aliility 
and energy he displayed in all his public 
duties would lead us to doubt their truth. 

22. Henry IV., Part II. act iv. sc. 4. 

23. Henry had been in one of his fits (see notn 

20), and the prince thought he was dead. 



RENEWAL OE THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 151 




HENRY V. 



RENEWAL OF THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.i 

HARACTER of Henry V. 
Motives for "War. — The 
new king was a man of 
brilliant ability. As a 
statesman lie was most wise 
— a firm upholder of law 
and a stern lover of jus- 
tice. He was equally dis- 
tinguished as a diplo- 
matist,^ being able, even 
in his youth, to cope 
with the most experienced 
of foreign politicians. To 
crown all, he was undoubtedly the first soldier of his 
day ; his ardent personal bravery inspired a spirit of 
heroism and devotion in the meanest of his soldiers, 
while the cool firmness with which he carried out his 
skilfully conceived plans made him " terrible in constant 
resolution;" he had also in a high degree that inventive 
faculty,^ that fertility of resource, which has always 
distinguished great generals. 

" Hear him but reason in divinity, 

And, all admiring, with an inward wish 

You would desire the king were made a prelate : 

Hear him debate of commonwealth affairs, 

You would say, — it hath been all-in-all his study : 

List his discourse of war, and you shall hear 

A fearful battle rendered you in music : 

Turn him to any cause of policy, 

The Gordian knot * of it he will unloose. 

Familiar as his garter." ^ 



152 LANCASTER AND YORK— HENRY V. 

The inducements which led this noble king to renew 
the delusive dream of French empire were various. In 
the first place, the opportunity was most tempting. The 
king of France was imbecile ; and there arose a fierce 
dispute as to the regency between the Dukes of Bur- 
gundy and Orleans,^ Now, Henry IV. had in his later 
years supported both in turns, and had received from 
the Orleanists full possession of Guienne.^ 

Henry Y., accordingly, proposed to revive the claim 
of Edward III.,^ and in this he was ardently supported 
by the clergy. Parliament had brought in a bill for 
stripping the Church of a large portion of her property, 
and the prelates thought a foreign war would distract 
fche attention of the people from this scheme.^ They 
therefore willingly granted Henry a large sum, and the 
Archbishop of Canterbury urged him to the war. 

Further, Henry was conscious of the defective title of 
his family to the throne,^^ and ambitious to rival the 
achievements of Edward III. and the Black Prince. In 
a word, his motives were rather those of an uneasy king 
and of an ambitious knight than those of a lofty-minded 
patriot bent on advancing the prosperity of his country. 

Preparations for the expedition were almost com- 
pleted when the discovery of a conspiracy against the 
king's life caused some delay ; the guilty leaders were 
condemned to death. At length, his fleet of 1600 
vessels sailed from Southampton,^^ carrying to the coast 
of France a fine army of 60 00 men-at-arms and 24,000 
archers. They landed unopposed at the mouth of the 
Seine. 

The First Invasion : Harfleur. — Henry's first under- 
taking was the siege of the strong fortress of Harfleur}'^ 
The garrison fought very bravely, and repulsed attack 



RENEWAL OF THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. i53 

after attack. Five weeks passed away before the brave 
defenders felt further resistance to be hopeless, and 
surrendered to the stern besiegers. The king is repre- 
sented as addressing his soldiers in martial words before 
they made the final assault : — 

" Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more ; 
Or close the wall up with our English dead ! " 




Henry's army had been terribly wasted during these 
weeks of struggle ; little more than half of his original 
force was left. Ashamed, however, to return to England 
in such a plight, he determined to follow the famous 
example of Edward III., and march towards Calais. 

His one great difiiculty was the passage of the Somme. 
He found every bridge and ford strictly guarded,^^ and 
a large army stationed on the opposite side. Another 



154 LANCASTER AND YORK—HENRY V. 

great force was advancing in his rear, and he felt for 
a moment almost baffled. At last he marched up the 
river, intending to cross it near its source ; but after 
passing Amiens he found a ford unguarded and led his 
wearied soldiers to the longed-for Calais bank. 

In this march, the king maintained strict discipline. 
His orders were very clear, and death was the penalty 
of disobedience : — " We give express charge that, in oiir 
marches through the country, there be nothing forced 
from the villages, nothing taken unless paid for." 

The Night before the Battle. — The French fell 
back towards Calais for four days, and then posted them- 
selves before the Castle of Agincourt.-^* 

The great battle which was now to take place re- 
sembled ill nearly every respect the famous victories 
of the Black Prince. The French army was still a 
fc/iidal one — strong in mail-clad cavalry, and com- 
manded, not by trained captains, but by ^ high dukes, 
great princes, barons, lords, and knights.' Henry's 
army was, on the contrary, an army of light-clad 
archers, supported by men-at-arms, and led by profes- 
sional soldiers. The king himself was no mere knight 
of chivalry, but a prudent strategist and skilled leader. 

The French commanders had chosen a foolish position, 
where their great masses of men ^^ were cooped up be- 
tween two woods, so that they were forced to attack 
with a narrow front. The soil was heavy with the 
autumn rains ; this was fatal to the already wearied 
chivalry of France. 

How dreadful and yet beautiful was the scene during 
that long autumn night, which was so soon to be followed 
by a day of carnage ! The hum of armies filling the 
still air, the sharp clink of the busy hammer of the 



RENEWAL OF THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 155 

armourer, and ever and anon tlie boastful neigh of steed 
piercing the ' night's dull ear,' form a majestic picture 
of war in its most romantic aspect. 

In the one camp, confidence in their numbers has 
produced a boastful spirit of revelry, and the soldiers 
glory beforehand in their expected victory : in the other, 
an air of solemn and even religious feeling prevails; 
the stern warriors there know well the danger they have 
to encounter, and sit soberly by their fires — thinking of 
the coming struggle, and half-uttering the prayer, ' God's 
arm strike with us, 'tis a fearful odds.' 

The noblest of all on that fire-lit plain is the young 
king of England. Our hearts glow within us as we look 
upon him, walking from sentry to sentry, and from tent 
to tent, and hear him praying the God of battles to steel 
his soldiers' hearts, and to possess them not with fear. 

The Battle of Agincourt, 1415. — The French were 
arranged in three solid masses. The two first fought 
on foot — a style of fighting for which their armour and 
the ground ill fitted them. The third line remained 
mounted in the rear, to complete the work of slaughter 
which, it was expected, the first lines would begin. 

The English army had their invincible archers in 
front, their heavy infantry and men-at-arms behind. 
Their skilful leader had devised a means of protecting 
his bowmen from attack. He caused them, to be sup- 
plied with thick stakes, sharpened at both ends, and 
directed them to stick these in a slanting position into 
the ground so as to form a palisade in front of them 
wherever they halted. 

The battle commenced ; the archers stepped out a 
few paces, and then halted, expecting the attack of 
the enemy's cavalry. But it came not, for the heavily- 



156 



LANCASTER AND YORK— HENRY V. 



burdened and dismounted men had sunk knee-deep in 
the mud and could not move. Upon this unmoving mass 
the deadly rain of arrows poured. Those behind, as they 
pressed forward, but trod down their dying comrades, 
and then came themselves beneath the fatal torrent. 
Then the archers of England, coming out from behind 

their stakes, slung 
their bows across 
their shoulders, and, 
seizing sword or mace 
or axe, fell upon the 
struggling masses of 
the enemy. 

The second line of 
the French fell in the 
same way, but the 
third made a despe- 
rate struggle. The 
English men-at-arms 




had now come to the support of the gallant bowmen, and 
opposed their own high daring to the half hopeless fury 
of the enemy. Henry was again and again attacked. 
His cousin, the Duke of York, was slain by his side, and 
the golden crown which he wore over his helmet was 
cleft down. At last, the houses in the rear of the French 
were set on fire by a few horsemen whom Henry had 
sent out early in the day. The disordered cavalry of 
the foe then turned and fled.-^^ 

Ten thousand Frenchmen were slain ; and, of these, 
eight thousand were of noble blood. Fully fifteen thou- 
sand knights were captured. The total English loss was 
sixteen hundred men. No wonder that Henry ascribed 
this marvellous triumph to God's anger against the 'vices 



RENEWAL OV THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 157 

that then reigned in France ; ' and no wonder either that 
when he came over to London the whole population poured 
out to welcome their valiant and victorious prince. 

Close of the Reign. — After two years' stay in Eng- 




HENRY'S triumphal entry into LONDON. 

land, during which he had to suppress a rising of the 
Lollards, Henry led to France a finer army than before ; 
and in two years, he conquered the whole of Normandy. 



158 



LANCASTER AND YOEK— HENRY V. 



The fall of Rouen in 1419 opened the way to Paris. 
At this crisis, when union among the French might 
even yet have saved the capital, the cowardly murder 
of the Duke of Burgundy caused his party to join the 
English. This led to the Treaty of Troyes,^^ misnamed 
The Perpetual Peace. 

By this treaty, Henry was to marry Catherine, 
daughter of the French king, to be regent during that 
monarch's life, and to succeed to the throne on his death. 
The work which Edward III. and the Black Prince had 
failed to perform now seemed complete. 

France was not yet conquered, however ; the spirit of 
a free people was yet to save her from a foreign rule ; 
and Henry was recalled from England (whither he had 
gone with his new queen) by the news of the death of 
his brother Clarence in battle. He hurried to Paris, 
and his wonted success still attended him. While the 
new enemies were but half quelled, his health completely 
broke down ; and the hero of Agincourt died at Vin- 
cennes in the very flower of his manhood. ^^ 



1. See p. 105. Henry V. reigned from 1413- 

142'J. 

2. Diplomatist, one skilled in negotiating with 

otlior states. 

3. Inventive faculty, i.e., the power of finding 

out new ways of doing things. 

4. Gordiaa Knot, i.e., the difficulty. This 

rt'fers to a story told of Gordius, King of 
Phrygia, in Asia Minor. He tied a Iciiot 
so that no one could unloose it ; and it was 
prophesied that the fates would give the em- 
pire of the world to liim who should untie 
it. Alexander the Great solved the diffi- 
culty by cutting the knot with iiis sword. 

^. Shakespeare's play of Henry V., act i. scene 1. 

0. The Burgundians were called Bourguingnons 
(pronounced Boorzhe - ivee ■ nyong ) / the 
Orleanists, Arniagnacs (Ar-man-yack ). 

7. See map, page 10 1. 

«. See table, page 106. 

9. Sliakespeare makes the Archbishop of Can- 
terbury give the following account of what 
the Bill proposed to t.ake from the clergy — 

" As much as would maintain, to the king's 
honour, 



Full fifteen earls, and fifteen hundred knights ; 
Six thousand and two hundred good esquires ; 
And, to relief of lazers, and weak age. 
Of indigent faint souls, past corporal toil, 
A hundred alms-houses, right well supplied ; 
And to the cotTers of the king beside, 
A thousand pounds by the year. Thus runs 
the Bill." 

10. See table, page 146. - 

1 • . Shakespeare simply calls it Hampton. 

12. Harfleur, on the right bank of the Seine, 

near Havre. 

13. Some accounts say that the French army 

was jiot yet ready. 

14. Agincourt, in north-east of France. 

15. The French are variously numbered at from 

50,000 to 100,000 fighting-men. 

16. Henry, from a mistaken idea that he was 

attacked in the rear, ordered the imme- 
diate slaughter of all prisoners, and many 
were slain. 

17. Troyes, on the Seine, 112 miles S.E. of Paris. 

18. Henry was born 1388 and died in 1422. He 

was therefore 34 years of age at the time 
of his death. 



END or THE HUNDRED YEAES' WAR. i59 




END OF THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR 
WITH FRANCE. 

HE Minority of Henry 

VI Henry VI. was a 

child of nine months 
old, and the work of 
government was to be 
carried on by a council. 
The uncle of the young 
king, the great Duke of 
Bedford, was appointed 
Regent ; but was re- 
quired to devote himself 
to the work of French 
HENBT VI. conquest. He was an 

able and noble man ; and his presence in England 
might have so consolidated the power of the house of 
Lancaster as to avert the civil war which was soon to 
devastate England. During Bedford's absence m France, 
the Protectorate of the realm was entrusted to his brother 
the Diike of Gloucester; while the person of the infant 
king was under the guardianship of Cardma Beaufort 

The former of these, although very popular with the 
Commons, was a passionate, ill-regulated, and ambitious 
man. His reckless disregard of the national interests 
abroad alienated England's most powerful ally and 
helped to cause the entire faUure of the scheme of Freneh 
Empire ; while, at home, his headstrong jealousy ot 
Cardinal Beaufort led to actual tumult, and introduced 
that state of internal dissension which culminated in the 
life-and-death struggle of the Wars of the Roses. 



i6o LANCASTER AND YORK— HENRY VI. 

Amid these scenes of war and tumult, tlie lineal heir 
to the throne^ was detained a captive in the Tower. 
His gentle bearing had won the hearts of his keepers ; 
but his strength gradually wasted away. He died in 
1424, leaving the redress of his wrongs and the asser- 
tion of his family claims to his nephew, Richard, Duke 
of York ;^ and thus, through the whole of the minority 
of Henry YI., we hear, mingling with the loud roar of 
foreign battle and the bitter wrangling of Gloucester 
and Beaufort, the less noisy but more dangerous mur- 
murs of that civil strife which was yet to change the 
peaceful fields of England into one vast theatre of 
war. 

From Paris to Orleans, 1422-1429. — The French 
king^ died in the same year as Henry Y., and, by the 
treaty of Troyes,*^ the infant king of England became 
king of France. The idea of a foreign sovereign occupy- 
ing their throne was most hateful to the French people, 
and the south-east accepted the Dauphin as king.' 

The story of the seven years of constant war which 
followed is full of interest. Bedford, as able a general 
as his royal brother had been, wished to strengthen the 
English hold upon the provinces they already had ; ^ 
but he was persuaded to push southwards. The English 
soldiers were usually successful in the pitched battles. 
The French had not yet learned from experience ; and, 
in such battles as that of Yerneuil,^ which was as de- 
cisive as Agincourt itself, we have the familiar picture 
of heavy-armed infantry and steel-clad cavalry helplessly 
slaughtered by the invincible archers of England with 
their great bows and their impenetrable barrier of pointed 
stakes. 

At last, the English determined to cross the river 



END OF THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 



t6i 



Loire, into the territory of the Dauphin. For this 
purpose, they laid siege to the great town of Orleans ^^ 
and invested it on all sides. A French army gathered 
for the relief of 
the city, but was 
defeated in an 
attempt to cut off 
a convoy of pro- 
visions ^^ advanc- 
ing from Paris 
to the English 
camp. Orleans 
seemed to be 
doomed; and the 
Dauphin, in his 
despair, spoke of 
taking refuge in 
Scotland or in 
Spain. 

It was at this 
moment, when 
man was power- 
less to save un- 
happy France, 
that God raised 
up one whose re- 
ligious enthusi- 
asm and inspired love of country re-animated once "more 
the courage of her fellow-countrymen, and rolled back 
the tide of invasion which threatened her country with 
immediate destruction. 

The Maid of Orleans. — There lived in a little village ^^ 
in the valley of the Meuse, a devout maiden called Joan 




MAP TO ILLUSTRATE THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR 
WITH FRANCE. 



(3) 



l62 



LANCASTER AND YORK— HENRY YI. 



of Arc.^* For years had she brooded over the miseries 
of her beautiful France, wondering why God allowed 
SQch terrible sufferings to afflict the people, and entreat- 
ing Him to save her country. 

Her prayers were at length answered ; for, one summer's 
day, at noon, she seemed to hear a voice from heaven, 
ordering her 'to go to France for to deliver the king- 
dom.' ^^ Again and again the vision returned to her, 
and she felt that her spirit could never know rest until 
she obeyed the behests of her celestial visitant. 

The gentle enthusiast was at last presented to the 
Dauphin and his doubting courtiers, and her words 
carried conviction even to their worldly hearts : — 

"Dauphin, I am by birth a shepherd's 
daughter, 
My wit untrained in any kind of art. 
Heaven, and our Lad}^ Gracious, hath it 
pleased 
To shine on my contemptible 

estate : ^*^ 
Lo ! whilst I waited on my 
tender lambs, 
And to sun's parching heat displayed my cheeks, 
God's mother deigned to appear to me ; 
And, in a vision, full of majesty, 
"Willed me to leave my base vocation,^'^ 
And free my country from calamity. ^^ 

Having no hope elsewhere, the leaders of the French 
army submitted to her guidance. The result proved 
that they acted most wisely. By this time, the French 
had L^.arned the art of war ; and now the absorbing 
patriotism of this girl-warrior raised a national instead 
of a party rallying cry, while the simple piety of her 




END OF THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. 163 

gentle maidenliood rebuked and banished the immorality 




JOAN LEADING THE FKENCH ARMY TO THE BELIEF OF ORLEANS. 

vfhich had weakened and disgraced the cause of France. 



164 



LANCASTER AND YORK— HENRY VI. 



I 



Loss of the French Provinces. — The success of La 
Pucelle ^^ was great and astonishing. She was entrusted 
with the command of an army on the 27th April 1429, 
and within two days was before Orleans. On the follow- 
ing day, her army safely entered the besieged town, 
bringing the much-needed supplies ; within a week more, 
her continued victories had completely disheartened the 
boldest of the enemy, and forced them to raise the siege. 

The tide of victory for France had now fairly set in. 
Not only was Orleans rescued ; but, within three months, 
' The Maid ' had led the Dauphin to be crowned at 
Rheims.'^*^ In the next year,^^ Joan's success at first 
continued ; but her fate was very sad. While leading 
a sortie from the town of Compiegne ^^ she was captured 
by the Burgundians, and by them sold to the English. 
Baffled ambition, humbled military pride, and ignorant 
superstition knew no mercy ; and after a year's imprison- 
ment, she was shamefully burned as a witch in the 
market-place of Rouen. No words are strong enough 
to condemn this atrocious act. The efforts of the 
patriots never ceased until nothing was left of the proud 
conquests of Albion but the grey walls of Calais. 



1. Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of AVinchester, 

second sou of John of Gaunt by Catherine 
Swinford. See table on p. 183. 

2. The great Dnke of Burgundy. 

3. Edmund, Earl of March. See table, X'. 146. 

4. See table, p. 148. 

5. Charles VI. 

6. Troyes, on the Seine, 112 miles S.E. of Paris. 

7. Afterwards crov/ned as Charles VII. 

8. At the death of Henry V., the English held 

Normandy and the whole of the rest of the 
North of France except Brittany, Maine, 
and Anjou, in the north-west. They also 
held Touraine, ■ which connected their 
northern possessions with PoitoU, Guienne, 
and Gascony, their provinces in the south- 
west. 

9. Venieuil, 100 miles west of Paris. 

10. This was at the part of its course where the 

river makes the great bend to the west. 

11. The siege be_gan in October 1428. ' 

12. This was called the Battle of Herrings, 



13. Domremy, on the frontier between Cham- 

pagne and Lorraine. 

14. Joan of Arc was born in 1412. Her name is 

more correctly Jeanne D'Arc, i.e., of 
Arques, a town in the north-east of France, 
near the lower waters of the Seine. 

15. The first vision was in 1425. Lorraine was 

then outside of France, that is why she 
thought the vision told her to 'go to France. 
IG. This recalls the words of the Virgin Mary, 
" For He hath regarded the low estate of 
His handmaiden." — Luke i. 48. 

17. Base Vocation, i.e., lowly calling. 

18. From Henry VI., act i., sc. 3. 

19. La Pucelle, i.e., 'The Maid.' It is pro- 

nounced Poos-ell. The Shakespearean pro- 
nunciation of this name is Jan la Poosel. 
The modern pronunciation is Joan la Poos, 
ell. See Henry VI., act i., sc. 6. 

20. Rheims, 90 miles north-east of Paris. 

21. /.€., 1430. 

22. Oompi^gna, 63 miles north-east from Paris. 



THE WAR OF THE ROSES. 



165 



THE WAR OF THE ROSES. 



King. 


Date. 


Place. 


Victo- 
rious. 


Remarks. 




1455 
1459 
1460 

1460 
1461 
1461 


St. Albans, in 

Hertfordshire 

Bloreheath, iu 

St iffordshire 

Northampton 

Wakefield, in 

Yorkshii-e 

Mortimer'sCross, 
in Hertfordshire 
St. Albans, iu 
He tfordshire 


Y. 
Y. 
Y. 

L. 

Y. 
L. 


The King captured, and the Duke of York placed iu 
office. 

After this, the Duke of York's army broke up, and 
he wa.s declared a traitor. 

The Lancastrians completely ove^th^o^vnhy the Enrlof 
Warwick, surnauied the King-Maker. The Queen 
flees to the Continent, and tlie King remains a pri- 
soner. Tlie Duke ot York openly claims the throne. 

Queen Margaret gains a great victory. York is executed, 
and Ijis \ oungcst son assassinated. The war becomes 
nnich more savage after this. 

Tlie eldest son of the dead Duke, afterwurds made 
king, was here the leader. 

Queen Margaret here defeats Warwick, and releases 
her husband. She has to retire before the new Duke 
of York without entering London. The latter is then 
crowned as Edward IV. 




1461 

1464 
1464 


Towton,iu York- 
shire 
Hedgely Moor 
Hexham, iu Nor- 
thumberhiud 


Y. 
Y.} 


The bloodiest battle iu the war. Warwick is the vic- 
tor, and Margaret talces refuge in Scotland. 

Margaret had made an attempt to Mttack from Scot- 
land, but was twice defeated. Henry was captiued 
a year afterwards and taken to the Tower. 




1471 
1471 


Barnet, in Hert- 
fordshire 

Tewkesbury, in 

Gloucestershire 


Y. 

Y. 


Warwick had quarrelled with Edward IV. on account 
of the latter's marriage with Elizabeth Woodvillc 
Edward IV. is driven irom the kingdom, hut returns 
and defeats the King-Maker, who is killed. 

Margaret, who had landed in the west, was here de- 
feated. 'J'he young Prince Edward was murdered by 
Edward and his brothers Clarence and Gloucester. 

Here the Yorkist Dynasty was overthrown, and 
Henry Tudor crowned king as Henry VII. 




1485 


Bosworth, in 

Leicestershire 


L. 




AUSES of the War.— The 
fundamental cause is to be 
souglit in the great body of 
military maintainers who 
have already been de- 
scribed as one of the 
baneful fruits of the long 
war with France.^ 

Second in importance 
must be placed the avowed 
reason for the conflict — 
the inherent defect in the 
Lancastrian title to the 
throne," To this must be added the long minority of 



1 66 LANCASTER AND YORK. 

tlie gentle Henry VI. He was also subject to periods 
of imbecility, and this placed tbe cliief power in the 
hands of his queen, Margaret of Anjou. This princess, 
not having the largeness of mind to play a statesman- 
like part, drove to extremities the partisans of the House 
of York. 

Finally, the repeated political murders which had 
stained with blood every chapter of the family feud of 
the Plantagenets, had excited a spirit of ferocious 
hatred between the two parties, which nothing but 
the dread arbitrament of war could satisfy. Such were 
the causes which produced the longest civil war that 
has ever filled England with misery and bloodshed. 

The Fall of the House of Lancaster. — The first 
battle ^ was fought in 1455. The Duke of York declared 
that he took up arms only to protect his life against the 
evil designs of the Queen and her advisers. Four years 
afterwards, the evident determination of Margaret to 
avenge the defeat of St. Albans compelled the Yorkists 
once more to take the field. They were again victorious, 
and it was then that the duke began to disclose the 
higher ambition which animated him. This led to the 
breaking up of his army, and the prominent nobles of 
his party were declared traitors. 

A third of the startling changes which distinguish 
this war soon followed. Warwick, the ' King-Maker,' ^ 
the most powerful of his supporters, won the great 
victory of Northampton. The Queen had then to take 
refuge in Scotland ; the poor weak King was captured, 
and the Duke of Yoi'k was made regent during his life 
and publicly proclaimed as heir to the throne. 

Now it was that the loftier qualities of Margaret of 
Anjou showed themselves. Henceforth she appears as a 



THE WAR OF THE ROSES. 167 

motlier fighting for tlie rights of her son. Unfortunately 
her excess of love for that prince, acting upon her over- 
bearing and proud nature, led her to acts of savage 
cruelty. Calling her adherents around her, she gained 
at Wakefield the first Lancastrian victory. The Duke 
of York was captured and put to death, and his youngest 
son, Rutland, was cruelly slain. Many brutal executions 
followed, and from this time the war became one of 
mutual ext elimination. 

The victorious Queen marched rapidly towards 
London, and the heir of the House of York hurried 
from the west to intercept her — defeating on his wa}' 
a Lancastrian army * which tried to impede his pro- 
gress. Meanwhile, Margaret gained a second victory 
at St. Albans — this time overthrowing the redoubted 
king-maker himself. London was almost within her 
grasp ; but the Londoners refused to admit her, and 
the approach of the young Duke of York forced her once 
more to retreat. The White Rose was now triumphant ; 
and he in whose honour it was worn was crowned, amid 
the acclamations of the people, as Edward IV. 

The Yorkist Triumph.^ — Margaret made one more 
effort for her loved son, but was hopelessly defeated at the 
bloody battle of Towton.^ Snow was falling on a wild 
afternoon of March when the fierce fight began ; dark- 
ness hid the combatants from one another but stopped 
not the work of slaughter ; morning found them still in 
deadly struggle, and only the arrival of a fresh body of 
troops at noon of the second day turned the trembling 
scale of victory in favour of the House of York. 

Edward lY. was a king who could be great only at 
intervals. When roused to action by necessity, no one 
could be more full of energy and vigour, but he lacked 



1 68 



LANCASTER AND YORK. 



the power of continuous effort. Accordingly, lie allowed 
his passion for Elizabeth Woodville to outweigh all con- 
siderations of prudence and king-craft/ This marriage 
mortally offended the proud king-maker, who succeeded 
in driving Edward from the kingdom. The imprisoned 
Henry VI. luas then replaced tipon the throne. 

The triumph of Warwick was shortlived ; for, when 
Edward IV. returned with Burgundian troops, he was slain 
in the battle of Barnet. Three weeks later, Margaret, who 
had landed at Plymouth on the very morning of Warwick's 
overthrow, was totally defeated ; and the young Prince 
Edward was brutally murdered by the king's brothers. 

For fourteen years longer, the House of York occupied 
the throne. The sickening scenes of slaughter continued; 
for Gloucester removed from his path both Clarence and 
the young sons of his brother Edward. He, in his turn, 
was slain on the fatal field of Bos worth. 

Effects of the War The first result of this war 

was that the hordes of maintainors were swept away, 
and many of the ancient families extirpated. There thus 
arose a new nobility, who, having no traditions of the feudal 
past to kindle their ambition, were prepared to form part 
of the more orderly organisation of a limited monarchy. 

This War of the Roses not only gave the death-blow to 
the feudal aristocracy, but it finally destroyed the system of 
serfdom which had for ages crushed beneath its iron heel a 
large section of the people. When the Tudor dynasty as- 
cended the throne, slaves no longfer 'breathed in Eno-land.' 



1. I.e., The Duke of Gloucester (see p. 158). 

lie was assassinated in 1447. 

2. In following? the course of the war, the table 

at the beginning of the reign should be 
closely attended to. 

3. The King-Maker. In this battle of North- 

ampton lie virtually dethroned Henry VI., 
and ??ui(k the Duke oj York king ; then, at 
Towton, his victory over Margaret secured 



Edward IV. upon the throne; and next, his 
alliance with that queen caused Edward to 
flee, and restored the croion to Henry VI. 

4. At Mortimers Cross. 

5. The kings of this dynasty were (1) Edward IV. 

(14(;i-:4S3|, (21 Edward V. (1483), (3)Ric.haia 

III. (14S3-14S5). 
0. Nearly 28,000 men were slain in this battle. 
7. King-craft, skill in ruling as a king. 



THE EVE OF BOSWORTH. 



169 



THE EVE OF BOSWORTH. 




EDWARD V. 



DWARD IV. died in 1483, leaving his 
two young sons, Edward V. and 
Richard (the eldest but twelve years 
of age), to the care of his brother, the 
Duke of Gloucester. This ambitious 
man, who migiit be compared to the 
cold, hard, cruel steel of humanity, had 
already procured the death of his elder 
brother, the Duke of Clarence ; and 
now caused the ijrinces to be shut up 
in the Tower, and there assassinated. 
Tlie murderer assumed the crown as 
Richard III., but two years later the 
Lancastrians made a great effort to re- 
gain the power, and won the great battle 
of Bosworth in 1485. Richard was slain ; 
and his conqueror, Henry of Richmond, 
the first of the Tudors, was proclaimed 
king. Shakespeai-e gives the following 
representation of the two leaders on the 
eve of the decisive battle : — 

Scene i. — ^ Henry of Richmond's 
tenty' speakers, Henry and 
Lord Stanley} 

the leisure and the fearful time 

t 



Stanley. Farewell 
Cuts off the ceremonious vows of love 
And ample interchange of sweet discourse, 
Which so long sundered friends should dwell upon ; 
God give us leisure for these rites of love ! 
Once more, adieu : — Be valiant, and speed M'ell ! 

Richm. Good lord?, conduct him to his regiment ; 
I'll strive, with troubled thoughts, to take a nap ; 
Lest leaden slumber peise^ me down to-morrow", 
When I should mount with wings of victory ; 
Once more, good night, kind lords and gentlemen. 

[Exeunt lords, &c., ivitli Stanley 
O Thou ! whose captain I account myself, 
Look on my forces with a gracious eye ; 
Put in their hands thy bruising irons of wrath. 
That they may crush down with a heavy fall 
The usurping helmets of our adversaries ! 
Make us thy ministers of chastisement, 
That we may praise thee in thy victory ! 
To thee I do commend my watchful soul. 
Ere I let fall the windows of mine eyes ; 
Sleeping and waking, oh, defend me still ! {Sleeps. 



170 



LANCASTER AND YOEK. 



Scene 2.— Richard Ill's tent. The usurper^ starting up from his 
couch after a dreadful dream in which his murdered victims hid him 
^Despair and die,' utters the following soliloquy .- 



I VE me another horse,— bind up 

my wounds ! — 
Have mercy, Jesii, — Soft ;— I 

did but dream. — 
O coward conscience ! how dost 

thou afflict me ! — 
The lights burn blue. — It is now 

dead midnight. 
Cold fearfuP drops stand on my 

trembling flesh. 
'^ What do I fear 1 myself ? there's 

none else by ; 
Ei chard loves Richard ; that is, 

I am I. 
no : ala?, I ratlier hate my- 
self. 




mCHAKD III, 



For hateful deeds committed by myself. 

I am a villain : Yet I lie, I am not. 

Fool, of thyself speak well : — Fool, do not flatter. 

My conscience hath a thousand several tongues, 

And every tongue brings in a several tale, 

And every tale condemns me for a villain. 

Perjury, perjury, in the highest degree ; 

Murder, stern murder, in the direst degree ; 

All several sins, all used in each degree, 

Throng to the bar, crying all, — Guilty ! guilty ! 

I shall despair. — There is no creature loves me ; 

And, if I die, no soul will pity me : — 

Nay, wherefore should they ? since that I myself 

Find in myself no pity to myself. 

Methouglit, the souls of all that I had murdered 

Came to my tent : and every one did threat 

To-morrow's vengeance on the head of Richard. 



1. These scenes are abridged from Sim kespeare's 

play of Rii hard in., act v., scene 3. 

2. Peise, i.e., weigh me down. Probably the 



same word as 'poise,' from the Latin 
pondns, a weight. 
Fearful, i.e., full of fear. Its usi^al meaning 
is, causing feaf. 



WILLIAM CAXTON, THE PRINTER. 171 

WILLIAM CAXTON, THE PRINTER. 

LEAVING- the fatal field of Boswortli, where a dynasty 
lies stricken from the throne, let us withdraw for a 
moment from the heated atmosphere of ambition and 
strife to the quieter precincts of Westminster Abbey, 
and, crossing to the north side of the Almonry,^ enter 
the low gateway of the grey three-storied house that 
stands apart from the noisy outside world. All is still 
within the dimly-lighted passage ; but, if you listen 
attentively, you will hear the low murmur of an aged 
voice. Follow the sound towards that closed door on 
the left, open the door, and enter ! You find yourself 
in the midst of a strange scene. Heavily bound books 
lie all around ; a rude printer's press stands near the 
window ; and beside it, is a reading-desk, in front of 
which is the figure of a stooping, grey-haired man. 
Draw near to him, and listen to the words that fall 
in gentle monotone from his withered lips : — 

" Oh ! ye mighty and pompous lords, winning in the glorious 
transitory ^ of this unstable life ; ye also, ye tierce and mighty 
knights, so valiant in adventurous deeds of arms ; behold ! be- 
h<jld ! see how this mighty conqueror King Arthur,^ whom in liis 
human life all the world doubted,* yea also the noble Queen 
Guenever,^ which sometime ^ sat in her chair adorned with gold, 
pearls, and precious stones, now lie full low in obscure foss'' 
or pit, covered with clods of earth and clay 1 Behold also this 
mighty champion, Sir Lancelot,^ peerless of all knighthood ; see 
now how he lieth grovelling upon the cold mould ^ — now being 
so feeble and faint, that sometime was so terrible. How, and in 
what manner, ought ye to be so desirous of worldly honour so 
dangerous 1 " 

Who is this old man ? What page of chivalry and 
war and death is he reading in this sequestered spot ? 
That page just lifted from the press is from a noble 



172 LANCASTER AND YORK. 

book, called " The Byrtli, Lyfe, and Actes of Kyng 
Arthur." ^^ In this old volume, the reader is led through 
a strange dreamland, where mighty knights roam 
over hill and dale in quest ' of adventurous deeds of 
arms,' jousting one another whenever they meet, and 
ever rescuing enchanted maidens from dread perils. 
Note well that book, for it is a famous one ; and, with 
its many passages of exquisite beauty and deep poetic 
insight, " it has served as a magazine of ideal subjects 
and suggestions to some of the greatest poets of our nation 
from Spenser and Milton to our own Tennyson." ^^ 

The reader is not less worthy of note than the volume, 
for he is the man who first printed English books,^^ and 
first set up a printing-press in England.^^ Look well at 
that good Saxon face, now wrinkled and worn, but still 
full of sturdy honesty and steadfast purpose ; that dim- 
eyed printer is the noblest figure in the whole of the 
troubled period which has just closed. 

" The Pen is mightier than the Sword." Think what 
it has done. Go to our busy towns and look into the 
great libraries and reading rooms where our mechanics 
find knowledge unrolling to them her ' ample page rich 
with the spoils of time ;'^^ turn to our country home- 
steads and villages where books carry to the most soli- 
tary the story of the work done in the great world of 
progress ; go to parliament where the voice of Liberty 
is heard proclaiming its rights in tones that, through 
the press of the nation, reach alike the trembling ear 
of tyranny which shrinks back at its rebuke, and the 
sorrow-laden hearts of the oppressed that awaken into 
new hope and life at the beneficent call — Literature, 
Liberty, Enlightenment : these are the gifts that have 
poured forth to England from " the quick forge, and 



WILLIAM CAXTON, THE PRINTER. 173 

working-house of thought " so busy in the grand head 
of that humble printer of Westminster Ahnonry.^^ 

Born in Kent, brought up a mercer'^^ in London, 
next head of the English Guild of Merchant Adven- 
turers in Flanders, and then Secretary to the Duchess of 
Burgundy,'^'' this hero of peace did not learn the art of 
printing till he was nearly sixty years of age. He lived 
for twenty years after that, eighteen of which were spent 
in England. During these few years, he printed nearly 
seventy volumes,^^ most of which were either translated 
or written by himself. He must have laboured unceas- 
ingly ; the mere quantity of his work is as much as the 
most of the ablest men have produced in their whole 
lifetime. 

The first book printed in our language was the 
Tales of Troy^^ and in a note (which may be called 
the first English preface), the venerable Caxton says, 
that "it is not written with pen and ink as other 
books ben,^*^ to the end that all men may have them 
at once, for all the books of this story were begun in 
one day and also finished in one day." After this 
volume comes Tlu Game of Chess ^ the first book printed 
on English soil. Besides the Morte D' Arthur, ^^ the busy 
bookhunter gave to his readers such varied volumes as 
the famous but then little known ^neid ^^ of Virgil and 
the Romances of Jason?^ One of the most interesting 
of his books is one relating '' the high and great fates 
of our Lord, the fates of our blessed Lady, the lives, 
passions,^^ and miracles of many other saints, and other 
histories and acts." This volume was so valued that it 
was called ' The Golden Legend,' ""^ because " like as 
passeth gold in value all other metals, so this Legend 
excelleth all other books." 



J74 



LANCASTER AND YORK. 



Kings and nobles watched with interest the busy 
labours of the maker of books ; but all the inspiration 
and all the labour were the results of his own genius 
and industry. Caxton impresses one as an ideal Saxon. 
In him we find in perfection that ' composed productive- 
ness ' — ' clearness, silence, perseverance, unhasting, un- 
resting diligence ' — which, warmed by the hidden central 
fire of genius, has made English Literature and English 
Industry the greatest in the world's great historv. 



1. Almonry, i.e., tlie place where alms were 

given out. 

2. Transitory. Here a noun, meaning a tran- 

sitory scene, one passing quickly away. 

3. King Arthur, the British prince. See p. 72. 

4. Doubted, dreaded, regarded as redoubtable. 

6. Guenever, i.e., Guinevere, the beautiful but 

faithless queen of Arthur. 
G. Sometime, i.e., at one time. 

7. Foss, a moat or trench, lit., a hole dug out. 
.s. Sir Lancelot, the bravest of Arthur's 

Knights of the Round Table. His passion 
for the queen led him to betray his nol)le 
king. Caxton's book says of him, " Thou 
wert the meekest man, and the gentlest, 
that ever eat in hall among ladies ; and 
thou wcrt the sternest knight to thy 
mortal foe that ever put spear in rest. " 
9. The old book makes Lancelot's remorse for 
his crime against the king very great :— 
"Evermore day and night he prayed, 
taking no rest but needfully as nature 
required ; sometimes he slumbered a 
broken sleep; and always he was lying 
grovelling upon King Arthur's and Queen 
Guenever's tomb ; and there was no com- 
fort that the bishop, nor Sir Bors, nor none 
of his own fellows could make him; it 
availed nothing." 

10. So Caxton calls it. Its more usual name is 

'The Morte D'Arthur,' i.e., The Death of 
Artliur. The writer is Sir Thomas Mal- 
lory, and it was published by Caxton in 
1485 (the very year of Bosworth), when that 
tireless worker wivs 74 years of age. 

11. This quotation is from 'British Novelists,' 

by Professor Masson. Spenser's 'Fairy 
Queen' is full of Mallory's ' Morte D'Arthur;' 
Milton purposed in his youth to make his 
great work upon the ancient British king ; 
and Tennyson's 'Idylls of tlie King" have 
been inspired by the book printed four 
hundred years ago by Caxton. 
li The first English book was published at Ghent 
in 1471. See note 19. 



13. 



17. 



Caxton set up his press in a house on the 
north side of the Almonry in Westminster, 
in the year 1474 The first book printed 
in England was 'The Game and Play of 
Chess. ' 

The quotation is from 'Gray's Elegy in a 
Country Churchyard.' 

Caxton's printing place was known as " The 
Reed Pale." There is still preserved in 
Brasenose College, Oxford, a bill printed in 
large type and inviting customers to come 
to the Reed Pale. This is the first English 
advertisement ever printed. 

Mercer, i.e., a general merchant. The gi-eat 
trade in silks and woollen clotlis caused 
this word to acquire its modern meaning. 

Margaret, sister of Edward IV. She greatly 
encouraged Caxton, especially in his trans- 
lation of the ' Tales of Troy. ' 

The number is variously given as 64 and 68. 

Its full name is ' The Recuyell of the Histories 
of Troy.' It gathers together all the tales 
concerning that great town in Asia Minor, 
and its capture by the Greeks. 

Ben, the old form of the third plural of tlie 
verb 'to be.' We now use 'are.' 

See note 9 above. 

.Sneid. This famous work of the illustrious 
Roman poet Virgil is the greatest epic 
poem in the Latin language. It gives an 
account of the founding of the Roman 
empire by fugitives from the flames of 
Troy. 

Jason, a mythical hero of Greece, son of the 
kin^- of Thessaly. He is said to have led a 
great expedition of Greeks into the Black 
Sea to bring back the golden fleece of a 
ram which had been formerly carried off. 
With him went the musician Orpheus and 
many heroes. His ship was called Argo, 
and the whole adventure is called the Ar- 
gonautic Expedition. The story was a 
groat favourite with our fathers. 

^OABiona, i.e., sufferings. 

Published in 1483. 




///. THE TUDOR DYNASTY. 
A PERIOD OF PERSONAL RULE. 

THE Beginning' of Modern History. — The beginning 
of this period may be said to be coincident with 
those European events which mark the transition from the 
Middle Ages to modern times. The fall of the eastern 
Roman Empire and the capture of Constantinople hy the 
Turks in 1453/ forced the numerous Greek scholars^ 
who had made that city their home to spread themselves 
over the various countries of the west, carrying with 
them not only their own stores of knowledge but many 
most valuable manuscripts. At the same time, the 
Invention of Frimting^ made the production of books in 
great numbers much cheaper and more rapid, and ren- 
dered it possible -for all who cared for study to form 
choice libraries of their own. 

These two causes combined to produce a Revival of 
Learning^ all over Europe, and this period really 
deserves to be called an ' age of scholars.' Not only 
did England possess many men of great erudition, but 
the education of women was carried to a height which 



176 



THE TUDOR DYNASTY. 



it has not reached even in the present day. The gentle 
Lady Jane Grey delighted in the beautiful dialogues of 
Plato, and her last hours were spent in reading the 
Greek Testament; while Queen Mary wrote with per- 
fect ease Latin, French, and Spanish. Her sister 
Elizabeth surpassed her ; for, in addition, she was 




LADY JANE GKEY AT HEK hTUDIES. 



mistress of Italian, and read more Greek in a day than 
many a clergyman did of Latin in a week. 

The natural consequence of this spread of education 
was a splendid outburst of literary fervour^ which culmi- 
nated in what is known as the Elizabethan period, when 



A PERIOD OF PERSONAL RULE. 177 

such men as Shakespeare and Spenser rendered illus- 
trious the ' bead-roll ' of England's men of genius. 
Akin to this last effect, was the uprising of a spirit of 
independent investigation in science and theology, which 
manifested itself in the proposed Reformation of Religion 
and in the birth of the modern Inductive or Baconian 
Philosophy. 

Finally, the general use of the Mariners' Compass^ 
gave a powerful impetus to naval enterprise through- 
out Europe ; and the discovery of the West Indies by 
Columbus in 1492, of the mainland of America by 
Cabot in 1497, of the passage round the Cape of Good 
Hope by Vasco di Gama in 1498, and of the Pacific 
Ocean by Magellan in i 520, inaugurated the marvellous 
commercial activity and universal spirit of colonisation, 
which are the most notable features of our modern life. 

General Character of the Government under the 
Tudors. — The gradual Introduction of Gunpowder ^ had 
completely revolutionised the art of war ; and, by giving 
the death-blow to the already lessened importance of 
the steel-clad knight, had completed the destruction of 
the decaying feudal system. The government of the 
Tudors is not at all like the medigeval rule of our war- 
like Richards and Edwards surrounded by their power- 
ful barons, but the sway of a personal sovereign un- 
checked by a martial aristocracy and in many respects 
most arbitrary in its character. 

It is true that in theory the English monarchy was a 
limited one, and the constitution had established five 
safeguards of liberty and checks upon any despotic 
exercise of power. These are so important that they 
should be kept clearly in mind from the very beginning 
of the period. ^ Ma 

(•5) 



178 THE TUDOR DYNASTY. 

Three of these had refei^eiice to 'personal freedom. No 
man could be imprisoned except by a legal warrant 
specifying his offence, and when imprisoned the accused 
had to be brought to speedy trial/ The surpassing 
value of this principle will be evident when it is re- 
membered that in France hundreds were consigned to a 
life-long captivity hy the simple ' order of the king^' tvith- 
out any form of tibial %uhatever. 

The second of these precious privileges, the priceless 
birthright of every Englishman, declared that the guilt 
or innocence of any accused person was to be determined 
in open coiort hy a jury of twelve fellow-subjects.^ Kings 
did after this endeavour to interfere with Trial by Jury ; 
but their doing so is in itself a strong proof of the import- 
ance of this inalienable right of the people. 

The third of these limitations of the royal prerogative 
declared that any servant of the king who violated the 
personal liberty of a subject coidd be sited for domiages 
before a jury ; and it was further settled that the fact that 
he had been obeying the king's order was no defence. 

The fourth and fifth of these constitutional principles 
were that no new law could be enacted^ nor tax levied^ 
without the consent of Parliament. Many attempts were 
made to evade these restraints upon kingly power by 
royal proclamations instead of laws, and by claiming 
benevolences or gifts instead of taxes. But such illegal 
acts only illustrate more clearly the value and security 
of these privileges of the Parliament and people of 
England. 

In spite of these safeguards, the rule of the Tudors 
was far more arbitrary than that of their predecessors 
or successors ; and we shall now inquire into the causes 
which rendered their power almost absolute. 



A PERIOD OF PERSONAL RULE. 179 

Causes of the Arbitrary Nature of Tudor Rule.— 

Tyrannies are usually oppressive to the mass of the 
people and have to be supported by the swords of a 
devoted army. Neither of these was the case under the 
Tudors. There was no standing army in England until 
the reign of Charles 11.,^ sixty years after the close of 
this period, so that these ' despotic ' monarchs had ab- 
solutely no physical force at their command. 

Again, the absolutism of the Tudors was of a some- 
what peculiar character. Their power was greatest in 
the circle immediately about their persons, and they could 
send their chief enemies to the block without a single 
opposing voice being raised ; we miss the resolute opposi- 
tion which even the greatest of the Plantagenets met with 
from their powerful barons ; but the mass of the people were 
free hoth in spirit and in fact. When Henry YIIL, the 
most arbitrary of the Tudors, imposed a tax without the 
consent of the Parliament, the Commons rebelled and 
forced him publicly to express his regret for having broken 
the law. In a word, with the exception of about eighty 
peers, all the inhabitants of our country, from the sons of 
these nobles to the poorest peasants and labourers, were, 
in the eyes of the law, freemen, citizens, and equals. 

The high-handed character of the Tudor rule was, in 
the first place, owing to the personal character of the 
monarchs. The three great sovereigns of the dynasty — 
Henry YII., Henry VIII. , and Elizabeth — were all 
persons of strong individuality, firm will, and cool head. 
The first two of these qualities gave them marked in- 
fluence over all who came into personal contact with 
them ; and there is no fact more striking than the almost 
slavish submission with which distinguished English 
warriors, world-renowned navigators, great statesmen, 



i8o 



THE TUDOR DYNASTY 



and illustrious writers, treated these monarchs. The 
last of these characteristics enabled them to know 
exactly how far they could safely go, and gave them the 
self-control to stop and retrace their steps whenever they 
had offended the great body of their people. 




1. HENRV VII. 



SIGNATURES OF THE TUDOR SOVEREIGNS. 

2. EDWARD VI. 3. HENRY VIII. 4. JIARY. 



5. ELIZABETH. 



In the second place, the Tudor monarchs were enabled 
to act as they did from the suhscrviency of their oioUes 
and Parliament. The nation had just emerged from a 
long civil war ; many of the landholders were ' new men ' 
who had sprung up during that time of turmoil, and who 
depended for security in possession of their estates ^^ upon 
the stability of the dynasty. The merchant class, too, felt 
that prosperity required above all things a settled govern- 
ment^ even although its power might be more absolute 
and arbitrary than their fathers would have submitted to. 

This spirit of acquiescence in acts which were uncon- 
stitutional allowed certain courts, especially that called 
the Star Chamher, to be used as engines of tyranny — giv- 



A PERIOD OF PERSONAL RULE. 



iJ^i 



iiig to royal proclamations all the force of laws, and 
'' holding for honourable that which pleased, and for just 
that which profited." 

After the Eeformation, the monarchs found a new 
ally in the state of religious parties in the country. 
The Protestant section of the people felt that the safety 
of their religion was for the time being far more im- 
portant than mere civil liberty, and that it depended 
upon the continuance of Tudor rule. Accordingly, they 
were content to bear any amount of personal oppression 
rather than by rebellion endanger their new faith. 

Another element which greatly favoured absolute rule 
was the ahsenee of the means of rapid communication. 
Acts of oppression might be perpetrated in different 
localities, and yet would not be heard of for weeks in 
the more distant parts of the country. -^^ This rendered 
combined action very difficult ; and to it we may add, 
the %oant of that political enlightenment which sees in 
any infringement of the rights of one individual a danger 
to the liberties of the whole people^ that in the struggle 
for freedom it must be, "Each for all, and all for each ; " 
that we must strive not only to guard our rights, but to 
" defend one another." 



1. See note p. 54, note 1. 

2. The language spoken in the Eastern Roman 

Empire was Greek, not Latin. 

3. See frontispiece. 

4. Called the Renaissance, or ' new birth.' 

5. The Mariners' Compass was known to the 

Chinese long before the time of Christ. 
It began to be generally used by sailors 
in the Mediterranean in 1310, when for the 
first time a card with the jsoints marked 
upon it was attached to the needle. 

6. Like printing and the mariners' compass, 

gunpowder had been long known to the 
Chinese ; and its properties were made 
known in England by Roger Bacon 
(1214-92), but it was not till the 15th 
century that it began to be of any im- 
portance in war. 

7. This right was strictly defined by the famous 



Habeas Corpus Act passed in the reign of 
Charles II. in 1679. 

8. Juries were linally protected from interfer- 

ence at the Revolution of 1688. 

9. "Except the yeomen of the guard, fifty in 

number, and the comnion servants of the 
king's household, there was not, in time 
of peace, an armed man receiving pay 
throughout England." 

10. There would be two claimants for most of 

the estates— a Yorkist one in exile or 
poverty, and a Lancastrian one in posses- 
sion. 

11. In feudal times it merely required an agree- 

ment between a few nobles to create a 
rebellion, but now an insurrection could 
scarcely take place without a really 
general movement among the masses of 
the people. 



l82 



THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HENRY VII. 




HENRY VII. 



HENRY VII.— THE FIRST OF THE TUDORS. 

1485-1509. 

ENRY'S Character and 
Title to the Throne. — 

The new king, the last 
representative of the House 
of Lancaster, was a man of 
great foresight, and had the 
wisdom (characteristic of his 
dynasty) to use moderately 
a power which he might 
have made very oppressive. 
Everything seemed to pro- 
mise a reign of extraordi- 
nary prosperity. The barons, 
so long the rivals of the crown, had been enfeebled 
by the recent wars ; and the commons had not 
yet learned to assert their rights in the absence of 
their ancient leaders. The whole nation, too, was tired 
of tumult and ready to acquiesce in any government 
which was able to enforce the law and ensure order, 
while Henry's promised marriage with the heiress of the 
rival dynasty was fitted finally to reconcile the hostile 
parties. 

Unfortunately, Henry was swayed by two master- 
passions, which at times broke beyond the control of his 
habitual prudence and plunged the country into a series 
of petty insurrections. The first of these was inordinate 
love of money, while the second was undying hatred of 
all who opposed his claim to the throne ; and one of 
the most marked features in this reign is the pertinacity 



THE FIRST OF THE TUDORS. 183 

with whicli he pursued his rivals and foes even to the 
scaffold, and the merciless avarice with which he extorted 
from the unhappy Yorkists their last remaining pos- 
sessions. 



TABLE SHOWING THE DESCENT OF HENEY VII. 



Edwakd III. 

I 

John of Gaunt 

=Katherine Swinford. 

I 
John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset. 

I 
John, Duke of Somerset. 

Margaret Beaufort=Edmund Tudor, 

I Earl of Richmond. 

Henry YII. = Elizabeth op York. 



Henry's title to the throne was very defective. He 
had not a legal right even to the inferior claims of the 
Lancastrian dynasty, for he was descended from an ille- 
gitimate son of John of Gaunt. His family had indeed 
been accorded the rights of legitimacy,^ but the Act doing 
so had expressly excluded them from the throne. 

A better title could have been founded upon his 
marriage with Elizabeth of York, but his inveterate 
jealousy of all rival claims caused him to look with dis- 
favour upon any reference to the descent of his queen. 

There are indications that he would have preferred 
to assert the right of conquest ; but his prudence warned 
him that the country would never have tolerated so 
odious a pretext, and reminded him that even William 
of Normandy had founded his claim, not upon his right 
as a conqueror,^ but upon the will of the Confessor. 
Henry was accordingly forced to rest upon the parlia- 



1 84 THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HENRY VII. 

mentary title ; but lie procured a papal bull which dis- 
tinctly sets forth his fourfold claim, by descent^ by mar- 
riagCy by conquest, and by parliamentary enactment. 

Dangers Threatening the Throne of Henry.- — 
Henry's deep hatred and restless suspicion of the 
Yorkists led him to keep back the coronation of his 
queen and prevented him from pursuing a wise policy 
of conciliation and moderation. This was very foolish, 
for, as will be seen from the accompanying table, he 
had more than one enemy to fear. 



TABLE SHOWING THE CHIEF RIVALS OF HENRY VII. 

Ricliard, Duke of York= Cecily Neville. 

J 

! I I I I 

Edward IV. George, Richard III. Elizabeth Margaret 

Duke of =De la = Charles 

Clarence, Pole, Duke of Bvir- 

killed 1477. of Suffolk. gundy. 

I I 

Edward, Earl of John, Earl of 

Warwick. Lincoln. 



Edward V. Richard of York. Elizabeth = Henry VII. 

The princes murdered in the 
Tower in 1483. 



The late king, Richard III., had named his nephew, 
the Earl of Lincoln, as his successor ; and, although 
Henry professed to treat that nobleman with contempt, 
he was a dangerous rival. A still more formidable claim 
was that of the young Earl of WariaickJ This unfor- 
tunate youth had been kept in perpetual imprisonment 
from childhood, and confinement had quite destroyed his 
intellect, but the Yorkists were ready to rally round his 
name. Last of all, the dowager Duchess of Burgundy, 



THE FIRST OF THE TUDORS. 185 

sister of Richard III. and of Edward IV., a princess 
who had ' the spirit of a man and the malice of a 
woman,' made it the chief purpose of her life to over- 
throw the hated Tudors, and replace one of her own 
dynasty upon the throne. 

In i486, Henry recalled all the grants of crown 
lands which had been made since the beginning of the 
Wars of the Roses. As these had been almost exclu- 
sively given to supporters of the house of York, the 
discontented and impoverished leaders of that party 
entered upon a series of desperate rebellions against 
their hated oppressor. 

The first of these is known as Lord LoveWs Bthellion. 
It took place in i486, while the king was making a 
royal progress through tha kingdom. The rebels in- 
tended to seize the king as he entered the city of York, 
but were easily dispersed. Their leader escaped to 
Burgundy, and remained there until he returned to join 
a more formidable attack upon the throne. 

The second insurrection of the Yorkists is associated 
with the imposture of Lanibert Simnel. This youth, the 
son of a carpenter of Oxford, had been trained by a 
man named Symmonds to personate the young Earl of 
Warwick — the motive being that Henrv mieht be kept 
from putting the real earl to death while the rebellion 
was in progress. 

The impostor had wonderful success. He was re- 
ceived most cordially in Ireland, recognised as king by 
the Lord Deputy, and proclaimed in Dublin as Edward 
YI. Nor was that all; for Lord Lovell, the Earl of Lin- 
coln, and many other exiles hurried over from Burgundy, 
bringing with them 2000 veteran troops, under the com- 
mand of a distinguished general, Martin Schwartz. 



i86 



THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HENRY VII. 



Henry, meanwhile, had recognised the imprudence of II 
his former policy. He accordingly proclaimed a general 
amnesty,'* and shortly afterwards had the queen publicly 
crowned. He also caused the true Earl of Warwick to 
be exhibited to the people. 

The last scene of the rising quickly followed. The 
insurgents landed in Lancashire ; and, marching across 
the centre of England, met the king's forces at Stoke, ^ 
in Nottinghamshire. There they were totally defeated 
and their leaders slain. Lord Lovell escaped, and was 
never seen alive again. Some centuries later, his re- 
mains were found in a secret chamber in one of his 
mansions, where he had concealed himself for safety and 
been forgotten. Simnel was treated with good-natured 
ridicule and made a turnspit in the royal kitchen, which 
office he found much more suited to his tastes than the 
fatigues of a campaign and the dangers of a throne. 



1. In the reign of Richard II. 

2. The title ' Conqueror ' used by William was 

a feudal term, signifying one who brought 
estates into any family ; it has no refer- 



ence to victory or conquest iu our modern 
sense. 

3. He was then 15 years of age. 

4. Amnesty, pardon of political offenders. 

5. June IGth, 1487. 



THE FIRST OF THE '^VT^O'R^— continued. 

THE Rising" of Parkin "Warbeck. — The third and 
greatest of these risings did not take place for about 
five years. Li the beginning of the year 1 49 2, a young 
man of most distinguished bearing made his appearance 
in Ireland, and declared himself to be Richard of York, 
the younger of the two princes supposed to have been 
murdered in the Tower. 

The career of this ' impostor ' was even more won- 



THE FIRST OF THE TUDORS. 187 

derful than that of Simnel. After leaving Ireland, 
where the memory of the former rebellion prevented 
the people from joining him, he was successively received 
as a royal personage in the three courts of France, Bur- 
gundy, and Scotland. The Duchess Margaret, as tireless 
an enemy of the Tudors as ever, greeted him as her 
nephew and called him " The White Rose of England." 
In Scotland he was welcomed with equal warmth by the 
chivalrous James IV. ; and was there married to the 
noble Lady Catherine Gordon, who followed him faith- 
fully in all his subsequent wanderings.^ 

Henry displayed the utmost anxiety to drive him 
from every place of refuge. In 1492, he made a sudden 
peace with Charles YIII. of France, in order that his 
enemy might be expelled from that country. Then he 
brought the people of Burgundy ^ to terms by removing 
the English wool mart from Antwerp to Calais. While 
injuring the English trade, this almost destroyed that of 
the Flemings, and led the Duke of Burgundy to agree 
to a treaty by which he promised not to permit the 
Dowager Duchess again to harbour the enemies of Henry. 
Finally, the prudent Tudor forgave the Scotch king for 
two invasions of the north of England, and arranged a 
marriage between James and his daughter Margaret.^ 

Warbeck himself did little to merit the support he so 
readily received. He had, indeed, landed in Kent,* but 
had shown neither courage nor ability. One hundred 
and sixty-nine of his followers were captured, and im- 
mediately hanged upon the beach. He had also made 
a second attempt in Ireland ; but his final effort was 
made in Cornwall,^ where a rising had taken place 
against Henry's taxation. At Bodmin, he was pro- 
claimed as Richard TV., and was followed to Exeter by 



1 88 THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HENRY VII. 

about 6000 men. His heart, however, failed him; and 
he fled for refuge to Beaulieu Abbey, leaving his fol- 
lowers to be cut to pieces by the royal troops.*" 

When brought to London, he was at first treated 
with apparent contempt, and allowed to walk about 
the city. But having attempted to escape, he was com- 
pelled to read a confession of his imposture, and, two 
months afterwards, was executed at Tyburn.^ 

Three circumstances make us almost doubt whether 
he was an impostor. The first of these is the extra- 
ordinary trouble Henry took to subdue the rebellion ; 
this he would hardly have done had he been certain that 
Warbeck was merely a pretender. The second is, the 
uniform respect with which Warbeck was received in 
the most distinguished courts of Europe ; and the third 
is, that although constantly watched by the spies of the 
king, he never showed the slightest indication that he 
was 'playing a part.' 

The General Policy of Henry. — Henry s foreign policy 
was marked by hostility towards France and friendship 
towards Spain. The rapid recovery of the former coun- 
try from the English invasions, and the consolidation of 
her various provinces, had made the surrounding countries 
regard her with dread.^ This feeling had, in the earlier 
years of the reign, led Henry to engage in a war with 
her concerning Brittany, but he had, as has been said, 
made a rapid peace ^ after receiving liberal supplies from 
his Parliament. 

In his later years, Henry completed his union with 
Spain by the marriage of his son Arthur, Prince of 
Wales, to Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand, 
the Spanish king.'^^ When Arthur died, a few months 
after the marriage, Henry and Ferdinand obtained the 



THE FIRST OF THE TUDORS. 



189 



Papal permission for marrying Catherine to her dead 
husband's brother Henry/^ The motive of the English 
king was to retain the dowry of 200,000 crowns, that 
of the Spaniard was to retain the English alliance 



against France. 




THE LANDING OF COLUMBUS IN THE NEW WORLD. 

In his home 'policy^ Henry sought to maintain order, 
and above all to amass wealth. To strengthen his 
central authority, he conferred extraordinary powers 
upon a court called the Court of the Star Chamber, whose 
chief duty at this time was the suppression of those 



190 



THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HENRY VII. 



great bodies of maintainers " who had rendered the 
barons so formidable. 

Every device was made use of to gratify the king's 
avarice. Forgotten statutes were dragged to light, that 
unfortunate transgressors might be heavily yf7ie(i ; while, 
since general taxes provoked popular discontent, benevo- 
lences and loans ^^ were exacted from the wealthy. 

One more incident calls for notice ere we leave^this 
reign. Henry's commercial instincts led him to encourage 
maritime enterprise ; and Columbus,^^ the great dis- 
coverer of the New World, had opened up communica- 
tions with him, when the king of Spain at last consented 
to furnish the illustrious navigator with a fleet. It was 
the English king, however, who sent out the expeditions 
of the Cabots,^^ which resulted in the Jirst discovery of 
the mainland of America. 

Henry died of consumption in his palace of Richmond 
in the spring of the year i 509. 



1. The Scottish Court was at this time a very 

cultivated one, including the famous poets, 
Dunbar and Gavin Douglas. 

2. In 1494, a plot was discovered in favour of 

Warbeck, and many English gentlemen 
were executed. Among these was the 
wealthy Sir William Stanley, who had 
saved Henry's life at Bosworth. 

3. The marriage was completed in 1502. 

4. 1194. 5. 1497. 

6. This took place at Taunton, 1497. 

7. August 23d, 1499. While this adventurer 

had been at the court of Burgundy, Henry 
sent over emissaries to find out who he 
really was. They declared that he was the 
son of a merchant of Tournay, and had 
been trained by the Duchess of Burgundy 
for the part which he had to play. 

8. It is at this time, that the maintenance of 

the Balance of Power (i.e., the prevention 
of any one state from rising to such a 
degree of power, as to endanger the general 
liberty) became a matter of European 
policy. 

9. The war ended in 1492, during Warbeck's 

rising. 



10. Ferdinand refused to agree to this mar- 

riage so long as the Earl of Warwick 
lived; and acc^ordingly Henry consigned 
the unhappy Plantagenet to the block. 
Long afterwards, when Catherine of Ara- 
gon was i.iijuitly put away by her husband, 
she exclaimed, " The divorce is a judgment 
of God, for that my former marriage was 
made in blood." 

11. Catherine and Henry were married in 1502, 

she being 18 years of age, he 12. 

12. See p. 129. 

13. A benevolence was a free gift ; loans differed 

only in name, for they were seldom repaid. 
Archbishop Morton invented a dilemma, 
called Morton's fork. Those who lived 
extravagantly were asked to pay because 
they spent so much ; those who lived 
economically because they Baved so 
much. 

14. Columbus was a Genoese. His voyage took 

place in 14 2. 

15. John Cabot and his son Sebastian were 

Venetians. They discovered Kewfound- 
land, and sailed along coast from Labrador 
to Virginia in 1497. 



THE EIVAL ROSES INTERTWINED. 



191 




HENRY VIII. 



HENRY VIII.— THE RIVAL ROSES INTER- 
TWINED.i 

HARACTER and Pros- 
pects of the Young" King. 

— No prospects could have 
been brighter than those of 
the young Henry. In his 
person, the claims of the 
rival Roses were at last com- 
bined; and, whatever objec- 
tions might have been made 
agfainst the title of his father, 
none could deny that he was 
the ^ next and sole heir to 
the blood royal of this realm.' 
The whole nation welcomed the young and frank- 
mannered prince as promising a delightful change after 
the cold, avaricious, and stern rule of his predecessor. 
And truly, Henry in his youth was fitted to call forth 
the enthusiastic loyalty of a people. He was handsome 
and strong in person, apparently most generous in dis- 
position, and possessed of excellent intellectual powers. 
We are told that people came to see him playing at 
bowls for the sake of his beauty, and that he was " as 
handsome as nature could make him ; " that he was an 
admirable horseman and wrestler, and that he not only 
knew French, Latin, and Spanish, but was an excellent 
musician and composer. It was not till later in life 
that he unhappily displayed those vices and passions 
which have made him detested by posterity. 

The earlier acts of this winning young king were 



192 THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HEXEY VIII. 

fitted to increase his popularity. He completed his 
marriage with Catherine of Aragon and thus rendered 
more secure the alliance with Spain," retained the more 
popular members of his father's council, and sacrificed 
to the indignation of the people Empson and Dudley 
— the two most hated of his father's financial agents. 
These men had only been guilty of extortion, but were 
condemned on a false charge of treason. 

Last of all, the new monarch had inherited a full 
treasury, and was thus able to gratify his personal 
inclination without imposing taxes upon the people. 

Henry's Foreign Policy. — Henry had all a young 
man's ambition after military renown. His flatterers 
reminded him of the glorious achievements of the Black 
Prince and Heniy Y. : and he plunged into European 
politics, dreaming of victories as illustrious as Crecy, 
Poitiers, and Agincourt. 

But, at the beginning of his reign, the voung English 

' CO D-'t.OO 

king had to deal with sovereigns much more experienced 
and skilful than himself, so that he became the tool of 
nearly every one of them in turn. The papal throne 
was occupied by the warlike Pope Julius II., France 
was governed by Louis XIL, Spain by the astute Fer- 
dinand, and Germany by the Emperor Maximilian. 

Interest at first centred upon Italy, where the Vene- 
tian republic had conquered large portions of the main- 
land, and the French had seized Milan.^ Xow, the 
Pope had determined to check tlie encroachments of 
Yenice,"^ and to drive the foreigner out of Italy. It 
was in the endeavour to attain the latter purpose that 
he sought the aid of Henry, along with both the Spanish 
king and the German emperor. This alliance was 
auspiciously called the Holy League. 






THE RIVAL ROSES INTERTWINED. 193 

Henry's motives in entering into this war were some- 
what complex. The military spirit referred to was 
naturally directed against France by the long traditions 
of ' The Hundred Years' War ' with that country. Along 
with a section of his council, he was also influenced by 
the Italian doctrine of the Balance of Power/ which was 
violated by French predominance in Italy. It is inter- 
esting to notice that, upon the policy of this war, there 
occurred ^' probably the earliest debate in an English 
council on the oft-discussed question whether Great 
Britain should aim at continental dominion, or confine 
her ambition to maritime greatness and colonial empire." 
It is in the latter direction that the country has won its 
most enduring conquests, and the views of its advocates 
have been finely expressed by one of her greatest 
poets : — 

" So the wide waters, open to the power, 
The will, the instincts, and appointed needs 
Of Britain, do invite her to cast off 
Her swarms, and in succession send them forth, 
Bound to establish new communities 
On every shore whose aspect favours hope 
Or bold adventure ; promising to skill 
And perseverance their deserved reward." 

The War with France, 1512. — Henry, however, 
decided upon a military policy. The history of the war 
may be told in a few words. In the first year, the Pope 
obtained his desire, for the French had to evacuate his 
beloved Italy. Ferdinand of Spain had long coveted 
Navarre, which at this time belonged to France. 
By promising the recovery of the English province 
of Guienne, he persuaded Henry to send an army 
to the Pyrenees ; and, while the French troops were 



194 THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HENRY VIIL 

occupied in watching the English forces, he quietly 




effected his purpose by overrunning Navarre. The 



THE RIVAL ROSES INTERTWINED. 195 

soldiers, disgusted with their inactivity and decimated 
by disease, at last forced their leaders to lead them home. 

In the following year, Henry led an army of 25,000 
men into the north of France. He was this time joined 
by the Emperor Maximilian with a body of horse. The 
combined forces laid siege to the town of Teroiienne. 

The garrison was sore pressed by want of food and 
ammmiition. The town was once, indeed, revictualled bv 
a gallant rush of 800 horsemen, each of whom carried 
across his saddle a sack of powder and a piece of bacon. 
They dashed through the English lines, threw down their 
burdens at the gate of the city, and then effected their 
retreat. 

A second attempt was made to relieve the beleaguered 
fortress, when an army of 1 0,000 men, led by the 
French king himself, came to the rescue. Strange to 
say, although these troops were veterans from Italy, they 
were, when charged by the English mounted archers, 
seized with a sudden panic, and fled in the wildest con- 
fusion. Their officers, who vainly sought to check the 
disgraceful flight, were nearly all captured. This rout 
was known as the Battle of the S'lnirs, because the fugi- 
tives used their heels much more than their swords. 

After this, Henry found himself deserted by all his 
allies. Maximilian had now obtained Milan, and was 
satisfied, as Ferdinand and Pope Julius had been before. 

The ' Balance of Power,' however, had been preserved ; 
and, to cement the new peace, Henry's sister Mary, a 
beautiful girl of sixteen, was married to the prematurely- 
old Louis.^ The aged bridegroom died in a few months, 
and his young widow married her former lover, Charles 
Brandon, duke of Suffolk. The new King of France 
was a gallant and warlike young prince, Francis I.^ 



196 



THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HEXRY VIIL 



/ I wisselBri. 



One year later, a youthful monarcli likewise succeeded 
to the throne of Spain — the renowned Charles Y. 

Francis I. managed to restore French influence in , 
Italy ; but the three young kings at last entered into a f ! 
close alliance, binding themselves to oppose any dis- 
turbance of the Balance of Power, even although one of 
themselves should be the aggressor.^ This event closes 
the foreign policy of the first part of Henry's reign. 

The Battle of Flodden, 1513. — As has been already 
said, the Scots had for many generations kept up a 
close alliance with France. Accoi'dingly, their king, 
James IV., made Henry's war with Louis the occasion 
for demanding an immediate answer to certain com- 
plaints he had urged ^^ against his royal brother-in-law.^^ 

That high - spirited monarcli 
replied with scorn. 

The Scottish king, there- 
fore, declared war, and led 
an army across the Border. 
After capturing several castles, 
the invaders encamped on 
an impregnable position on 
Flodden Hill, near the left 
bank of the little river Till ; "^^ 
and an English army, under the Earl of Surrey, hurried 
north to attack them. 

James IV., with a foolish but romantic chivalry, 
allowed his enemy to march unattached through the 
narrow pass by the side of the Till, and then to cross 
that river by a bridge which his artillery could have 
rendered impassable. 

The Scots were forced by this movement of their 
enemy to leave their strong position and fight upon the 




^" Flodden Hi II ^■' 



\ 



THE RIVAL ROSES INTERTWINED. 



197 



plain. The issue was decided in less than an hour. The 
English right and centre were nearly defeated ; but their 
left (consisting of archers from Lancashire and Cheshire 
led by Sir Edward Stanley) defeated the Highlanders 
opposed to them, and then, attacking the Scottish centre 
from the rear, gained a complete victory. 

The last struggle of the Scots took place round the 
body of their wounded and dying king. Scott's descrip- 
tion of this scene of heroism and death is one of the 
grandest battle-pieces in our language. 

Ere darkness ' closed her wing o'er the thin host,' the 
Scottish monarch, the flower of his nobility, and the 
greater portion of his gallant army, had fallen on 
' Flodden's fatal field.' The defeat was lamented over 
the whole of Scotland as hardly less disastrous than 
Bannockburn had been glorious ; and more than two 
hundred and fifty years afterwards the beautiful song, 
' The Flowers of the Forest,' bewailed the loss of the 
Border youth on that day of ' strife and carnage.' 



1. Henry reigned from 1509 to 1547. He was 

born in 1491, so that he was eighteen years 
of age at the beginning of his reign. 

2. The Spanish alliance was at this time very 

popular as a safeguard against the undue 
increase of French power. 

3. Spain had rightful possession of Naples. 

4. Called the League of Cambrai. 

5. Balance of Power. See note 8, p. 190. 

6. Wordsworth, in ' The Excursion,' Book IX. 

7. Louis was 53, but much broken in health. 

8. Louis Xn. died in 1515, Ferdinand in 1516. 

9. That is, Henry of England, Francis of France. 

and Charles of Spain. The nominal cause 



was the threatened advance of the Turks 
into Central Europe. 

10. Henry VIII. had never given up the jewels 

which Henry VII. had left by will to his 
daughter Margaret of Scotland. Satisfac- 
tion was also demanded for the execution 
of the Scottish Admiral, Sir Andrew Bar- 
ton, upon a charge of piracy. 

11. James IV. had been married to Marg;iret, 

daughter of Henry VII. From this mar- 
riage resulted the union of the crowns of 
Scotland and England. 

12. Till, a small Northumbrian stream, which 

falls into the Tweed below Coldstream. 




1 98 



THE TUDOU DYNASTY— HENRY VIII. 



THE LAST OF THE GREAT ECCLESIASTICAL 

STATESMEN^ (1515-1530). 

7;~:;:^OLSBY: his Rise, Char- 

acter, and Policy. — This 

^ great minister swayed tlie 

X destinies of England for 

r^"" nearly fifteen years. He 

^ was born of humble parents 

in the city of Ipswich. His 

enemies were more exact in 

i|/ their account of him : ^ — 

.s^"Eegat by butchers, but by 
^/■>y^^^^;\ bishops bred, 

^^^^^ How haughtily his highness 
holds his head." 




WOLSEY. 



Whatever may have been his parentage, he received the 
best education that the times could give ; and at the 
University of Oxford, he showed such talent and took 
his degree at so early an age that he was known as the 
"Boy Bachelor."^ 

He had attracted the notice of Henry YII. by the 
ability with which he managed certain delicate nego- 
tiations, and had been recommended by that king to 
his son as almoner.^ He still more completely gained 
the confidence of his new patron, who showered 
honours ^ upon him, till his revenues ^ equalled those 
of the Crown itself; and he became by far the most 
powerful subject in the realm. At last, he was made 
Archbishop of York and Chancellor ; while Pope Leo 
created him a Cardinal, and appointed him his Legate. 



THE LAST OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL STATESMEN. 199 

It is very difficult to form a just estimate of the 
cliaracter of this wonderful man. In the first place, he 
owed his lofty position to his remarkable ability and 
untiring energy. By these, he was able to relieve 
Henry of the most troublesome of his duties, and leave 
him at liberty to indulge in the gorgeous ceremonial in 
which he especially delighted.^ Further, Wolsey's tastes 
exactly suited those of the king. His scholarship ^ and 
literary skill appealed to the intellectual side of Henry's 
character, while his magnificence of life^ accorded well 
with that monarch's splendid extravagance. 

On the other hand, his enemies could point with too 
much justice to his lofty ambition, his ' ever ranking 
himself with princes,' to his unbounded desire for wealth, 
and to the heartlessness with which he swept from his 
path all who stood in his way to power. 

Our great dramatist gives the following account of 

him : — 

" This cardinal, 
Though from an humble stock, undoubtedly 
Was fashioned to much honour. From his cradle 
He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one ; 
Exceeding wise, fair spoken, and persuading : 
Lofty and sour to them that loved him not ; 
Eut to those men that sought him, sweet as summer. 
And though he were unsatisfied in getting, 
(Which was a sin), yet in bestowing, madam. 
He was most princely." ^° 

The policy of this all-powerful statesman was three- 
fold. In the first place, he had unbounded personal 
ambition. He was not covetous ; for though he was 
never satisfied ' in getting,' he used his great wealth but 
to increase his influence. Not content with almost 



200 THP: TUDOR DYNASTY— HENRY VIII. 

regal power in England, lie aimed at the Popedom 
itself, and did not hesitate to subordinate the interests 
of the whole nation to that end. 

His admirers declared that this personal motive was 
secondary to his love for the Church itself, and his eager- 
ness to promote her welfare. They say that he saw 
clearly the existence of abuses which required reforma- 
tion ; and that his resolute pursuit of wealth, magnifi- 
cence, and power, was only to enable him so to guide 
the affairs of England and of Europe that 'reform should 
come from within the Church, not from without.' 

As a minister of Henry, he consistently upheld the 
arbitrary exercise of kingly power. The lessons of the 
long civil war may have impressed upon him the para- 
mount necessity of law and order. Accordingly, he 
sought by every means to weaken the power of the 
nobility who had formerly caused such anarchy ; and, on 
the other hand, he looked upon the Commons as requiring 
to be led rather than consulted about the affairs of state. ^^ 
He was thus hated both by peers and people. 

Foreign Affairs during the Ministry of Wolsey. — 
As has been already said, three young sovereigns ^^ now 
occupied the thrones of England, France, and Spain. 
In I 5 1 9) the emperor of Germany died ; and these three 
monarchs became rivals for the imperial crown.^^ 
Charles of Spain won the coveted honour, and it was 
soon evident that war would take place between him 
and Francis. Henry's alliance was eagerly sought by 
both of these princes ; for his position and the military 
renown of his people enabled him to hold the ' balance of 
power.' Unfortunately, Wolsey's ambition and his own 
vanity prevented him from winning any lasting benefit 
from these advantages. 



THE LAST OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL STATESMEN. 20 r 

Erancis, who was of a frank and chivalrous disposi- 
tion, proposed an interview with Henry. The place ap- 
pointed was a level plain on neutral territory near Calais/^ 
and the followers of both sovereigns determined to make 
the meeting a scene of unparalleled magnificence. The 
more astute Charles was, however, beforehand with his 
rival. He had already won over Wolsey by promising 
to use all his influence to procure that minister's election 
to the wished-for Popedom. Further, he came over to 
England in person, met Henry at Canterbury, and ob- 
tained a promise from that monarch to meet him after 
the conference with Francis was over."^^ 

Henry then went over to Calais to meet the gallant 
King of France. Both were accompanied by their nobles, 
and the series of gorgeous displays won for the conference 
the name of The Field of the Cloth of Gold}^ It may be 
regarded as the expiring flicker of the torch of chivalry 
which had shed so magnificent a light over the closing 
scenes of mediaeval life. 

The two kings were ' suns of glory, two lights of men 
equal in lustre.' ^^ To-day, the French appeared all 
glittering in gold ; to-morrow, the English came forth 
so brilliantly attired that every man appeared ' like a 
mine.' The two queens, with the fair ladies of their 
courts, presided over the gay gallantry of the scene; 
and brilliant tournaments were added to other less war- 
like pageants. No permanent results followed from, 
this extravagant and most theatrical display, except, 
perhaps, that many of the nobility of both realms were 
ruined by the expense into which a frenzied spirit of 
ostentation and rivalry had hurried them. 

In pursuance of his minister's policy, Henry formed 
a close alliance with Charles, and several fruitless in- 



202 THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HENRY VIII. 

vasions of France took place. ^^ Meanwhile, "Wolsey had 




LANDING OF HENRY AT CALAIS ON HTS WAY TO THE FIELD OF 
THE CLOTH OF GOLD. 



THE LAST OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL STATESMEN. 20^ 



been twice disappointed in the matter of the Popedom, 
and liis entliusiasm for the war became lukewarm. "^^ It 
was not possible to withdraw hastily ; but at last the 
total defeat of Francis, in 1525, enabled him to appeal 
to the old argument of the ' Balance of Power.' 
According'ly, although war was not declared with Spain 
till three years later, an alliance was gradually made 
with France. 

To strengthen this union, a marriage was proposed 
between the French king and the young princess Mary."*^ 
During the negotiations, questions were put with regard 
to the legality of Henry's marriage with Catherine, 
and consequently as to the legitimacy of their offspring. 
This, however, will be better considered in connection 
with one of the most disgraceful proceedings in our 
country's annals — the divorce of the virtuous princess 
who had for neai^ly twenty years been Queen of England. 



. Ecclesiastical statesmen. Wolsey recalls 
Dunstan in Saxon times, aiid Thomas h 
Becket in those of the fiist Plantagenet. 
. His enemies said that he was the sou of a 
ijutcher or grazier. This was i)robably 
untrue. 

Bachelor, the first degree conferred upon a 
student at tlie universities after having 
passed his examinations is that of Baclielor 
of Arts (or B.A.), tlie second is that of 
Master of Arts (or M.A.). 

Almoner, distributer of alms. 

Honours. When Tournny was taken (see 
p. 195), he was made its Bishop. He was 
also made Bishop of Bath ; this he ex- 
clianged for the richer See of Durham, and 
tliat for the still richer one of Winchester. 
Hp held many other lucrative posts. 

Revenues. In addition to his enormous Eng- 
lish revenues, he had large yearly pay- 
ments from both Francis of France and 
Charles of Spain. 

That is, in his earlier years ; in his later 
years, he gave most of his time to the 
transaction of public business. 

At Oxford, he endowed seven lectureships 
and founded tlie college of Christ's Churth. 



In connection with the latter, he created 
a college at his nalive Ipswich ; this one 
"fell with him." 

Wolsey is said 'to have kept up a train of 800 
persons— many of them nobles, kniglits, 
and gentlemen. He built the splendid 
palace of Hampton Court, and then jiro- 
seuted it as a gift to his gratified sovereign. 

From the play of Henry VIII., Act iv. Sc. ii. 

There was no parliament from 1515 to 1523. 

See p. 19f5. 

The Emperor of Germany Avas elected by the 
minor potentates or electors of Germany. 

Between Guisnes and Ardres. 

The promise was kept. The meeting took 
place at Gravelines near Calais, imme- 
diately after the Field of the Cloth of Gold. 

Field of the Cloth of Gold took place in 1520. 

For a vivid description of the meeting see 
Shakespeare's Heni-y VIII., Act i. Sc. 1. 

The most important were in 15'J2 and 1523. 

Leo X. died in 1.522. Adrian VI. was then 
elected. He in turn died in 1523, and was 
succeeded by Clement VII. 

Daughter and only surviving child of Queen 
Catherine of Ai'agon. 



204 THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HENRY VIII. 



T 



THE DIVORCE OF QUEEN CATHERINE. 

HE Causes of the Divorce. — You will not have for- 
X gotten that Catherine had been wedded to Henry's 
brother Arthur before her marriage to himself/ and 
grave doubts had been expressed at the time concern- 
ing the legality of the second union.^ 

Shakespeare makes Henry give three reasons which 
moved him to action in the matter. He declared that 
his first scruple had been excited by certain speeches 
of the French ambassador when debating the proposed 
marriage with the Princess Mary.^ ' In these,' he said, 
' it was plainly asked — 

' "Whether our daughter were legitimate, 

Respecting this our marriage with the dowager, 
Sometimes^ our brother's wife.'"^ 

-The second motive was found in the death of all tlie 
children of the marriage except one sickly girl. He 
especially dwelt upon the loss of the male issue. 
" Hence," he stated publicly, " I took a thought this 
was judgment on me, and that I stood not in the smile 
of Heaven." 

A third reason naturally followed from this. If the 
marriage were irregular and Mary illegitimate, then, in 
the event of Henry's death, England would have been 
exposed to all the dangers of a civil war. In the first 
place, the long enmity between England and Scotland 
would have led to the rejection of the hereditary title of 
his elder sister ^ Margaret in favour of his younger sister 
Mary." This would have di\dded the strength of the 
Lancastrian or Tudor dynasty. Again, there were 



I 



THE JJIVORCE OF QUEEN CATHERINE. 205 

several individuals round whom the followers of the 
house of York rallied — a grandson of Edward TV. still 
lived,^ and the Earl of Warwick, whom Henry VII. had 
executed,^ had left a sister to uphold his claim. Ac- 
cordingly, he declared that it was anxiety for the welfare 
of his kingdom which decided the matter and led him 
to seek the only apparent remedy. 

There were other reasons, however, which Henry did 
not mention. Wolsey at first undoubtedly promoted the 
divorce. His quarrel with Charles, led him to desire 
very strongly an alliance with France, and no better 
plan suggested itself than to wound his enemy through 
his family pride,^^ and to place a French princess on the 
throne that had been so long occupied by a Spanish queen. 
Afterwards, however, when he found that Henry had 
determined against the proposed French marriage, he 
seems to have changed his purpose and sought to keep 
back the decision he had at first so eagerly desired. 

Yet another motive had been at work in Henry's breast 
— one of a lower kind than any of these, but which 
proved strong enough to cause the downfall of his long- 
trusted minister, to separate him from the noble mother 
of his dead children, and to sever the ties which had 
during so many ages bound England to Kome. 

There had lately been presented at the Court of Queen 
Catherine a beautiful young lady called Anne Boleyn. 
She belonged to the noble family of the Howards, and 
became one of the Queen's maids of honour. Her airs 
and graces (for she had been educated in France) made 
her the reigning belle of the royal circle, and Henry 
seems to have conceived for her a passion before which 
all the ties of honour, friendship, and religion were rent 
asunder. 



2o6 THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HENEY VIIL 

The Course of Proceeding's in the Divorce. — In the 

first place, as lias been said, Hemy (advised by Wolsey) 
appealed to the Pope for a dissolution of liis marriage 
with Catherine. But the pontiff ^-^ was at this time 
completely in the power of Charles V., the nephew of 
the injured queen ; so that, between the Spanish king -^'' 
on the one hand and Henry on the other, he was, as it 
were, ' between the hammer and the anvil.' 

To |)ut off the evil day, Pope Clement sent over a 
special legate, the Cardinal Campeggio, who was (along 
with "Wolsey) to inquire into and decide upon the whole 
m atter. Before these j udges, Catherine with most pathetic 
dignity pleaded with her inexorable husband for justice. 
She even begged for pity, since that she was ' a most 
poor woman, a stranger, and born out of his dominions ; ' 
she reminded him of tlie memory of their peaceful wedded 
life, of their many children, and of the careful inquiries 
made before their marriage. All was in vain ! She 
then expressly repudiated Wolsey as her judge, declar- 
ing that he was her enemy and most malicious foe ; and 
she finally appealed to the Pope. 

To Henry's great indignation, this course was eventu- 
ally adopted by the court ; ^^ and, in the name of the pon- 
tiff, both himself and Catherine were summoned to appear 
at Kome. Henry's passion brooked no delay ; he mur- 
mured that these cardinals trifled with him, and that he 
abhorred ' this dilatory sloth and tricks of Kome.' 

Already, indeed, a priest of Cambridge, named 
Thomas Cranmcr^ had suggested that the king should 
not refer the matter to the Pope and his Roman courts,, 
but should propose to all the universities of Europe the 
plain question, ' Whether a man could marry his brother's 
widow?' The king took the hint, sought out the priest, 



THE DIVORCE OF QUEEN CATHERINE. 207 

made Mm Ms chaplain, and sent Mm as one of the chief 
ambassadors to carry out the scheme. 

The appeal to the universities was accordingly made.^"^ 
These learned bodies were divided in opinion, but the 
English people, '^ moved by generous feeling, saw no- 
thing in the transaction but the sacrifice of an innocent 
woman to the passions of a dissolute monarch." 

Finally, in 1533, Oranmer, who had been made Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, declared that the ' so-called ' 
marriage between Henry and Catherine was null and 
void, and pronounced the union between the Mng and 
Anne Boleyn legal and valid.-^*" 

Two years before this, the injured queen had been 
ordered to leave Windsor, and she was now degraded 
to her former rank of Princess of Wales. The last 
three years of her life were spent at Kimbolton in 
Huntingdonshire, where she died in 1536. Her un- 
merited wrongs rouse the indignation, and call forth the 
pity of all who read of them, while her dignified and 
womanly demeanour under insult and outrage excite 
the respect and admiration of every generous heart. 

The Events which Followed from the Divorce. — 
The first of the consequences of these discreditable 
proceedings was the fall of Wolsey. The appeal to the 
Pope had been his plan ; and, with the failure of Cam- 
peggio to decide in accordance with Henry's desire, he 
lost all favour with the passionate monarch. 

The disgraced minister had no reserve of power on 
which to fall back. He was surrounded on all sides 
by enemies. Catherine and her sympathisers, rightly 
or wrongly, regarded him as the cause of all her 
sorrow; the kinsmen of Anne Boleyn were not only 
incensed against him for his opposition to her advance- 



2o8 



THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HEXRY VIII. 



ment, but were leaders of that baronial part}' lie had 
always repressed ; lie was detested by the nobles, and 
his arbitrary rule ^' had completely alienated the 
Commons. 




HEXKT VIII, DISMISSIXa WOLSET. 



In the first place, Wolsey was ordered to resign his 
chancellorship ^^ and retire to the mansion of Esher in 
Surrey. He was then accused of having acted as Papal 



THE DIVORCE OF QUEEN CATHERINE. 209 

Legate and procured bulls froni Rome.-^^ This charge 
was most unjust, for these things had been done with 
the sanction and in the service of the king. The Court 
of the Star Chamber, however, outlawed him, forfeited 
all his goods, and declared that his life was at the mercy 
of the king. 

One faithful servant, Tliomas Cromwell, alone raised 
his voice in defence of the fallen man, and procured 
for him pardon and permission to retire to his diocese 
of York. It is said that Henry had the grace to admire 
the fidelity and appreciate the ability of Cromwell ; at all 
events, he was for the next few years the king's trusted 
adviser and the moving spirit in the Lower House. 

Wolsey's misfortunes were not yet over. He had 
been barely a month in the north, and had not even been 
installed in his archbishopric, when he was arrested on 
a charge of treason. He was at once conveyed towards 
London, but on his way he fell sick suddenly, and grew 
so ill that he could not ' sit his mule.' At length he 
reached Leicester, where he sought shelter in the abbey. 

" father abbot, 
An old man, broken with the storms of state, 
Is come to lay his weary bones among ye ; 
Give him a little earth for charity ! " 

This proved his last resting-place, for there he died. 
On the day before his death ^^ he spoke these memorable 
words. " Henry," said the dying prelate, " is a prince 
of most royal courage ; rather than miss any part of his 
will, he will endanger one half of his kingdom. . . . 
Had I but served God as diligently as I have served 
the king, he would not have given me over in my grey 
hairs. But this is my just reward for my pains and 

(3)' ^ 



210 THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HEXRY Till. 

study ; not regarding my service to God, but only my 
duty to my prince.""^ 

Whatever may have been his faults, one can have 
little sympathy with the master who so cruelly deserted 
him. Let us hope that the pathetic and beautiful de- 
scription given of his last moments is true : — 

"His overthrow heap'd happiness upon him; 
For then, and not till then, he felt himself, 
And found the blessedness of being little : 
And, to add greater honours to his age 
Than man could give him, he died fearing God." 

The Establishment of the Church of Bng-land.— 
Wolsey had seen clearly that reform of the Church had 
become absolutely necessary. The ' advancement of learn- 
ing ' had led educated men to look with growing dis- 
content upon the privileges and immunities *■" of ecclesi- 
astics, the growth of the national spirit throughout 
Europe had raised up a natural jealousy of Italian 
supremacy, and the laxity of morals in many of the 
clergy had outraged the feelings of the laity. 

In Germany and Switzerland, whole states had sepa- 
rated themselves from the rule of the Pope, had given up 
all attempts at reforming the Church from within, and 
set themselves outside of her communion. 

The movement in the first of the^ie countries had been 
led by Martin Liitlurl^^ who had attacked with immense 
energy the alleged corruptions of the Church in doctrine 
and in life. Now Henry himself was not a reformer ; 
he held firmly by the Catholic doctrines, and had written 
a treatise against Luther, for which he had received from 
the pontiff the illustrious title of Defender of the Faith?^ 

Taking advantage, however, of the national jealousy 



THE DIVORCE OF QUEEN CATHERIXE. 



211 



of foreign interference which had so long prevailed in 
England, he determined to separate the Church of 
England in all matters of government and discipline from 
that of Rome. Accordingly he threatened the clergy 
with the penalties of the same law under which Wolsey 
had suffered, and they were glad to purchase pardon by 
the payment of a heavy fine. A year later, all appeals 
to Rome were forbidden ; and finally,"^ ^ the king tuas 
recognised as the only su'preme head, under God, of the 
Church and realm. 



See p. 188. 

It had been decided, after careful considera- 
tion, that there was no lawful bar ; the 
Pope had granted his dispensation ; and, 
with the consent of all, the younger brother 
had taken the place of the elder. 

See p. 195. 

Sometimes, here means at one time. 

The poetical quotations in this lesson are 
fioni Shakespeare's play of Henry VIII. 

Margaret, elder daughter of Henry VII., had 
been married to James IV. of Scotland ; 
her son was James V. of Scotland. 

Mary, the younger daughter «f Henry VII. 
had been mnrried first to Louis XII. of 
France, and then to Charles Brandon, 
Duke of Suffolk. 

This was Henry Courtenay, Marquis of Exe- 
ter, son of Edward IV. 's daughter Cathe- 
rine ; he was executed in 1539. 

His sister was Margaret, Countess of Salis- 
bury, who was executed by Henry VIII. in 
1541 ; her eldest son, Lord Montague, was 
executed in 1539. 

Charles V. was the nephew of Catherine of 
Aragon. 

The Pontiff, Clement VII., who succeeded 
Adrian VI. in 1522. 

Spanish King, Charles V. of Spain had been 
elected Emperor of Germany in 1519. 

In June 1529. 

In 1530. 

From Mackintosh's History, vol. ii. 



16. Henry and Anne Boleyn had been privately 

married on the 25th January, 1533. Cran- 
mer's public declaration of the validity of 
the marriage was made on the 28th of May 
1533 ; Anne was crowned on June Ist ; and 
on the 7th of September, she gave birth to 
a daughter, the Princess Elizabeth. 

17. See page 178. There had again been no Par- 

liament from 1523 to 1528. 

18. This took place on the 17th October. 

19. This was by the final statute of Pro visors or 

Praemunire passed in the reign of Richard 
II., in the year 1393. By this act, 'any 
man procuring instruments from Rome, 
or publishing such instrunieuis, was out- 
lawed, his property forfeited, and his per- 
son apprehended.' 

20. Wolsey died on the 29th November 1530. 

21. From the Biography of Wolsey by Cavendish, 

who had been his secretary. 

22. See pp. 19-21. The Benefit of Clergy was 

abolished in 15?.2. 

23. Luther's first public appearance against 

Rome was in 1517 ; he burned the papal 
bull commanding him to retract, in 1520 ; 
and he defended his views at the Diet of 
Worms in 1521. 

24. This title was conferred in 1521. Our sove- 

reigns still retain it ; and on the diiferent 
coins you find the initial letters D. F., 
standing for the Latin, 'Defensor Fidei,' 
i.e., Defender of the Faith. 
20. In 1534. 




212 



THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HENRY VIII. 




A REIGN OF TERROR. 

(1535-1547). 

HARACTER of the 
Tyranny.— Henry's cliar- 
acter had suffered terrible 
deterioration as the years 
1^3 I'olle^^ on- The poisoned 
Q atmosphere of flattery and 
^ unrestrained authority had 
completely corrupted his 
,,vx A once attractive disposition. 
"^ I It was not merely that he 
'(P^r:^-;^ could brook no opposition 
:^^1 to his will and would allow 
SIR THOMAS jnoKK. i^o oue to dlffcr from him 

even in opinion, nor that the coarser passions had 
obtained unbridled mastery over him, but that an actual 
thirst for blood seemed to have seized hold uj)on him. 

This tiger - like atrocity makes Henry stand 
oat from all the rest of modern European tyrants. 
None were spared who came in his path ; and the 
stream of blood ^ swept away his queens ^ and his 
ministers,^ the scholar whose thinking he had admired ^ 
and the poet whose verses he had |)raised,'^ the noble 
whom he had called his friend ^ and the soldier ^ who had 
added glory to his name.^ 

The crime which is said to have marked most clearly 
the change from the ostentatious joviality of the Henry 
of the Field of the Cloth of Gold to the dark cruelty 
of the tyrant of these later years, was the execution of 
/S'w' Thomas More. This distinguished man was an 



' A KEIGN OF TERROK. 213 

accomplislied scholar, a brilliant historian, and a wiso 
philosopher ; the first English prose writer whose work 
is free from pedantry, and the first of our statesmen 
worthy of the name of 'orator.' He had been appointed 
Chancellor after the fall of Wolsey, and had served 
Henry most faithfully. His home life, too, was of the 
most delightful kind ; and his happy domestic circle has 
been made the subject of an interesting picture by the 
great artist of that age. 

As a conscientious Catholic, he could not acknowledge 
Henry as Head of the Church ; he had judged it best to 
keep silent on the matter, saying merely that he would 
not meddle with it. In spite : of this, because he dis- 
approved of Henry's treatment of Queen Catherine, he 
was, by a mockery of justice, condemned to death as a 
traitor.' 

This frightful crime kindled throughout Europe a 
detestation of Henry ; while Englishmen, afraid appa- 
rently to speak out their horror, received the tidings 
with a sorrow which was not the less profound because 
it was silent. 

The Suppression of the Monasteries. — This reform 
seems to have been projected by Wolsey ; ^^ and it was 
carried out under the direction of that Cromwell of whom 
you have read as the attendant and faithful defender of 
the unfortunate minister.^^ The smaller monasteries 
were suppressed in 1536, and the larger ones in 
1539.^^ Enormous wealth thus fell into Henry's hands ; 
of this a portion was retained for the king's own re- 
quirements, another share was employed in the esta- 
blishment of certain bishoprics and cathedrals,"^^ but the 
greater part was gradually distributed among Henry's 
nobles. 



214 THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HENRY VIII. 

This high-handed action of the king excited great 
discontent among the masses of the unrepresented 
commons/* and was soon followed by a series of popular 
risings. These insurrections were three in number, and 
took place in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and Cumberland. 
The first was easily suppressed by the Duke of Suffolk, 
and the others by the Duke of Norfolk. 

The most important was the second. In it, all the 
peasants from the Tweed to the Humber had taken up 
arms, and sworn ' to stand by each other for the love of 
God and of holy Church.' At the head of the insurgents 
marched priests carrying banners painted with sacred 
emblems, and, wherever they appeared, they replaced 
the ejected monks in their monasteries. This rising 
was called by the suggestive name of The Pilgrimage of 
Grace. In the end nearly all of the leaders were 
executed, and their followers were hanged by scores in 
the chief northern towns. 

The causes of these insurrections may be nearly all 
traced to the suppression of the monasteries. There 
was then in England no poor law, and the peasants 
missed the alms which had been given with so liberal a 
hand at the door of every one of the religious houses. 
In the next place, the monks had been m.ost liheral and 
indulgent landlords — living in the midst of their tenants, 
and spending their revenues among their dependents ; 
Avhile the new proprietors were mostly absentees, and 
much more strict in the exaction of their dues. Many 
of the farms, too, loere now turned into pastures, and the 
starving labourers were thus cast idle upon the world. 

Close of the Reign. — Only a passing reference need 
be made here to the wars with Scotland and France 
which closed in the year 1 346. In the former, the 



A REIGN OF TERROR. 215 

Scots gained a victory at Haldenrig^'' but were in turn 
completely routed by the Cumberland yeomen in the 
battle of Sohuay Moss}^ This latter event was followed 
by the death of the king of Scotland, James Y., who 
left the crown to a little daughter — the ill-fated ' Mary 
Queen of Scots.' 

Henry then fruitlessly endeavoured to bring about a 
marriage between this young princess and his son 
Edward. In his rage at being opposed, he ordered a 
cruel invasion of Scotland. This expedition shows well 
the savage nature of the warfare of the period. The 
Engflish kinof's orders were to '' burn and subvert — 
putting man, woman, and child to fire and sword, 
without any exception when any resistance shall be 
made." 

This ^ reign of terror ' closed in blood, as it had 
begun. The noble Earl of Surrey,^^ a gallant soldier 
and an accomplished poet, was put to death on a most 
frivolous charge. His father, the Duke of Norfolk 
(who had been one of Henry's trusted ministers and the 
uncle of one of his queens), ^^ was ordered for execution 
a few days afterwards ; but the king himself died on 
the very night before the legal murder was to have 
taken place, and the victim escaped. 

Constitutional Importance of the Reign. — It is one 
of the most striking illustrations of the subserviency of 
Parliament that it surrendered to Henry YIII.-^^ the 
whole settlement of the succession to the throne, convert- 
ing England into the ' private property^ of the monarch. 
Accordingly, by his will, Henry bequeathed the sove- 
reignty to his three children and their heirs in succes- 
sion ; and then, failing issue of any of these children, he 
devised the crown to the family of his youngest sister 



21 6 THE TUDOR DYNASTY— HENRY VIII. 



^ 



Mary — setting aside the prior hereditary claim of the 
descendants of his elder sister Margaret. 



TABLE ILLUSTRATING HENRY VIII.'S SETTLEMENT OF 
THE SUCCESSION. 

Henry VII. 



Henry VII] 




.1 

Margaret = James IV. Mary = 

of : 

Scotland. j 

James V. Frances = 
of Scotland. i 

1 ; 

Mai-y, Lady Jai 
Queen of Scots. (4. 


Chai'les 
Brandon, 
Duke of 
Suffolk. 


(by Catherine (by Aime 
of Aragon.) Boleyn.) 
Mary. Elizabeth. 
(2.) (3) 


(by Jane Sey- 
mour.) 
Edward VI. 
(I.) 


-- Marquis 
of Dorset. 

e Grey. 
) 



In spite of Henry's atrocious despotism, it must be 
admitted that he worked hard in the government of his 
country, and left his impress upon the subsequent his- 
tory of the nation ; for, in addition to the after-fruits of 
the Reformation and the formation of the Church of 
England, the constitution of these islands now rests in 
large measure upon foundations laid in this reign. 

Ireland was pacified as it had not been for centuries, 
and its rebellious chiefs were transformed into Englisli 
peers. It was also put upon a legal equality with Eng- 
land by being declared a kingdom, whereas it had 
formerly been merely an inferior ' lordship.' Hitherto 
a large part of Wales and the county palatine "^ of 
Chester had been semi-independent ; they were now 
made subject to the royal courts, and allowed to send 
representatives to the English Parliament. 

The House of Commons had, during the troubles 
connected with the Wars of the Roses, sought to confine 
its attention to the one question of supplies. In other 
matters, it had become content to pass without discus- 



A KEIGN OF TERROR. 



217 



sion the measures of Privy Council ; and vvlieu Henry 
ascended the throne, so little did the Commons care for 
their privileges, that their attendance at the sessions of 
Parliament had to be enforced by a law. But, . after the 
fall of Wolsey, Henry made constant use of them to 
subdue the resistance of the House of Lords, repeatedly 
appealed to them as 'the real representatives of the 
people,' and may be said to have thrust power upon them. 
The House of Commons thus became accustomed to deal 
with the highest business of the nation, and was con- 
verted into the first power in the realm under the 
crown. 



1. The notes following (2-7) give a list of the 

noblest of Henry's victims. 

2. Henry's Queens.— This king was married six 

times. His successive queens were the 
following:— (1) Catherine of Aragon, mother 
of Qiieen Mary, divorced in 1533 ; (2) Anne 
Boleyn, mother of Queen Elizabeth, exe- 
ruted in 1536; (3) Jane Seymour, mother 
of King Edward VI., died in 1537 : (4) Anne 
of Cleves, divorced in 1640 ; (5) Catherine 
Howard, executed in 1542; (6) Catherine 
Parr, who happily survived Henry. 

3. Ministers.— Sir Thomas More, executed in 

1535, Cromwell, executed in 1540, were 
two of Henry's most faithful ministers. 

4. Scholars. — Wolsey, who escaped execution 

liy his death. Sir Thomas More, and Bishop 
Fisher (executed in 1535), were all 'ripe' 
scholai-s. 

5. Poets.— The Earl of Surrey, the last of Henry's 

victims (executed in 1547), was the most 
distinguished 2)oet of the reign. He was 
among the first, if not the very first, to 
introduce blank verse into our poetry. 
C. Friends.— The Duke of Buckingham (executed 
in 1521), Wolsey, the Duke of Norfolk (who 
was only saved from execution by the 
death of Henry himself), and many of the 
other victims had been Henry's intimate 
friends. 

7. Soldiers.— The Earl of Surrey had served 

with great distinction in the Scottish war 
at the close of the reign. 

8. To the slaughter of the noble individuals 

mentioned above, must be added great 
numbers who were put to death in the 
various bitter religious persecutions. Tlie 
most ruthless executions followed an act 
called the Act of Six Articles, or the Bloody 
Statute (1539). Those who denied the doc- 



trines therein declared were burned as 
heretics ; on the other hand, those who 
believed the doctrines, but dt^nied the 
king's su2iremacy over the Church, were 
executed as traitors. 
9. More's eldest daughter was called Margaret 
Roper. She got her father's head taken 
down from London Bridge, kept it during 
life as a sacred relic, and was buried Avith 
it in her arms. 

10. Christ's Church College, Oxford, had been 

endowed by Wolsey with money derived 
from the suppression of cert. 1 in monas- 
teries. 

11. See page 209. 

12. Lingard estimates the whole annual income 

of the suppressed houses at nearly £150,000, 
which would be equivalent to at least 
£2,250,000 at the present day. The move- 
able wealth was probably worth aboiit 
£400,000, or £6,000,000 of our present money. 

13. It had been intended to found eighteen new 

bishoprics, but only six were established. 

14. 'Unrepresented Commons. See note 4, page 

13".. 

15. Haldsnrig, or Hedenrigg, in Teviotdale, Rox- 

burghshii'e. 
](). Solway Moss (near Carlisle), in 1542. 

17. Surrey. See note 5 above. 

18. Catherine Howard. See note 2 above. 

19. This Act of Parliament was passed in 1536. 

Henry at first declared both of his daugh- 
ters, Mary and Elizabeth, illegitimate ; in 
his will, however, he directed that first 
should come his son Edward and his issue ; 
second, Mary and her issue : third, Eliza- 
beth and her issue ; fourth, his sister Mary 
and her issue. See table, page 216. 

20. Palatine, i.e., ruled by a 'prince.' 



2lS 



THE TtJDOK DYNASTY. 




CKANMEK. 



EDWARD AND MARY. 

f^~T^ HE Relig-ious Changes dur- 
ing" the Period. — 1 lie three 
surviving children of Henry 
VIII. ascended the throne 
in succession ; and, as the 
first two had but short 
reigns/ it will be conveni- 
ent to consider them to- 
gether. This period is re- 
markable as the arena of the 
most bitter religious con- 
flict to be found in the 
history of England. 
As we have said, Henry VIII. was no reformer, and 
had sternly upheld all the doctrines of the Roman 
Catholic Church. Edward,^ however, had been educated 
as a Protestant, and the leaders of that party now came 
into complete possession of power. They accordingly 
applied themselves with great vigour not only to finish 
the work which the late king had begun, but to intro- 
duce the changes in ritual and faith necessary to bring 
the national Church of England into harmony with the 
tenets of the continental reformers. 

In a word, the Reformation was to be pushed 
violently forward ; images of saints were pulled down, 
pictures and stained windows in churches were forbid- 
den, and many old customs and holy-days were swept 
away. The Acts under which the persecution"'^ by 
Henry VIII. had been carried on were repealed ; and a 
copy of the English Bible was ordered to be placed in 
every church, while the Latin liturgy was replaced by a 



EDWARD AND MARY. 219 

Book of Common Prayer.^ Finally, teachers were spread 
throughout England to preach against papal authority, 
and to proclaim the special doctrines of Protestantism. 

This was not an age when religious toleration was 
understood. It has been already pointed out that 
Henry VIII. had carried on a cruel religious persecu- 
tion ; ^ and the reformers, although they shed no blood 
during the reign of Edward VI., yet had recourse to 
very oppressive measures, depriving of office and im- 
prisoning their leading adversaries.^ 

A complete change took place when Mary came to the 
throne.^ The new sovereign was the daughter of the 
injured Catherine of Aragon, and was a devoted ad- 
herent of the Koman Catholic Church. She had always 
regarded the recent religious changes with abhorrence, 
looked back with indignation upon the cruel wrongs of 
her mother, and determined to restore the old connection 
with the Church of Rome as speedily as possible. '' The 
queen, in fact, and those around her, acted and felt as a 
legitimate government restored after an usurpation and 
treated the recent statutes as null and invalid."^ 

In the first place, those who had been imprisoned by 
the reformers were released and restored to office. All 
that had been done in the preceding reign was then 
simply reversed ; and the leading Protestants were 
ejected from their livings, and placed in close confine- 
ment. 

As yet Mary had gone no farther on the path of into- 
lerance than her predecessors. Unfortunately, after her 
marriage with Philip of Spain,^ she seems to have stifled 
the promptings of her better nature, and subjected her 
will entirely to that of her husband. A cruel tyranny 
followed, the ' Burning Statutes ^^ (as they have been 



220 



THE TUDOR DYNASTY. 



called) were revived, and nearly three hundred of Mary's 
subjects were committed to the flames. 

These terrible persecutions were quite alien to the 
spirit of the English people. They led many to become 
Protestant who, at the beginning of the reign, had been 
of the contrary persuasion ; and they caused a terrible 
odium to attach itself to the name of one who had 
formerly been admired by all for her gentle ways, and 
the spotless purity of her private life. 

A Troubled Regency. — The 
new king was a boy of ten. 
The will of Henry VITL had 
entrusted the government dur- 
ing the minority to a council 
consisting entirely of the ' new ' 
nobility — men who owed their 
rank to his favour and their 
wealth to the spoils of the sup- 
pressed monasteries, and who 
would, accordingly, be bound to 
the young king by the double 
ties of gratitude and self-interest. The council, however, 
conferred all their authority on the Earl of Hertford, the 
uncle of the king," who was made Duke of Somerset. 
This nobleman was appointed not only gnardiaii of the 
young king, but Lord Protector of the realm ; and they 
gave him full power to act as he thought fit independent 
of themselves. 

The new regent was a man of large heart, keenly alive 
to the miseries of the people and full of sympathy for 
their sufferings. The wise portions of the policy of the 
previous king were to be vigorously carried out ; while 
a rule of gentleness, justice, and universal liberality was 




EDWARD VI. 



EDWARD AND MARY. 221 

to take the place of the stem despotism of the past. 
The great fault of this noble man was the common one 
of trying to do everything at once ; and it soon became 
clear that he could not successfully grasp the various 
lines of policy which the imdoubted ability of the late 
king had enabled him to centre in himself 

In religious matters, the violence of his changes raised 
a wide- spread feeling of revolt among the masses of the 
people, who still clung to the old faith; while his well- 
meant but over-hasty endeavours to help the poor offended 
the richer classes, and led to actual insurrection.^'--' 

Failure also attended him in foreign affairs. He 
plunged England into an unsuccessful war with France, 
and the imperious way in which he insisted upon the 
marriage between Mary of Scotland and the young Ed- 
ward led to the complete ruin of the scheme of union. 
For, although war was declared and the Scots were de- 
feated at the battle of Finkie,'^'-^ the young queen was 
immediately sent over to France, and was there solemnly 
betrothed to the Dauphin.'"^ 

The great interest of this reign, however, attaches to 
the state of the masses of the 2^eople. You have just read 
of the causes which, after the suppression of the monas- 
teries, led to popular risings. Things were even worse 
now. The new proprietors were not content with their 
great possessions, but enclosed the ' common ' land— thus 
depriving the poor of the right of free pasture. 

Somerset sought earnestly to help the suffering masses, 
and he appointed a commission to see that the laws for 
the relief of the poor were properly carried out. A 
graphic account of the ills complained of has been handed 
down by one of these commissioners. He complains of 
the decay of towns and villages, and laments " that poor 



222 



THE TUDOR DYNASTY. 



men's habitations be utterl}' destroyed everywhere, and 
in no small number; and that, husbandry having abated,^'^ 
the king's subjects are wonderfully diminished." 

The famous Latimer,^^in a sermon preached before king 
Edward in 1549? boldly contrasts the prosperous con- 
dition of the farmers in his father's day with their 
wretched state at the time he was speaking. Here are 
his very words " : — 

" My father was a yeoman, and had no lands of his own, only he had 
a farm of three or four pound by year at the uttermost, and hereupon 
he tilled so much as kept half a dozen men. He had walk for a hundred 
sheep, and my mother milked thirty kine. He was able and did find 
the king a harness, with himself and his horse, while he came to the 
place that he should receive the king's wages. He kept me to school, or 
else I had not been able to have preached before the king's majesty now. 
He kept hospitality for his poor neighbou: s, and some alms he gave to the 
poor; and all this did he of the said faime. Where he that now hath 
it, payeth sixteen pounds a year, or more, and is not able to do anything for 
his prince, for himself, nor for his children, or give a cup of drink to the 
poor. Thus all the enhancing and rearing goeth to your private com- 
vwditji and to v:ealt1i.'' 



1. Edward VI. reigned from 1547-1553; Mary 

from 1553-1558. 

2. The young Edward. He was born in 1537, 

and was thus 10 years old at his accession. 

3. These were the (1) 'Burning Statutes' of 

Eichard II. and Henry IV. against tlie 
Lollnrds ; (2) all the Acts in matters of 
religion passed under Henry VIII. except 
those directed against tlie papal supre- 
macy ; (3) all the treasons created in tlie 
late reign ; and (4) the Act which gave the 
royal proclamation the force of law. 
t. Book of Common Prayer, the work of Cran- 
mer. The historian Fronde says, "As the 
translation of the Bible bears upon it the 
imprint of the mind of Tyndale, so, while 
the Church of England remains, the image 
of Cranmer will be reflected on the calm 
surface of the Liturgy." 

5. See note 3 above. 

6. Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester; Bonner, 

Bishop of London ; Tunstal, Bishop of 
Durham : Day, Bishop of Chichester ; and 
Heath, Bishop of Worcester. 

7. In 1553. 

8. From Hallam's 'Constitutional History.' 



0. PhiL'p of Spain was son of the Charles V. 
who has been so often mentioned in the 
reign of Henry viii. He was Mary's liaU' 
cousin. 

10. See i.ote 3 above. 

11. Uncle of the King. He was the brother of 

Edward's mother. Lady Jane Seymour. 

12. These insurrections took place both in the 

western couiitie < of Corn\^^all and Devon, 
and in the eastern county of Norfolk. 
They were nearly as serious as the rising of 
Wat Tyler and Jack Cade ; the Norfolk ris- 
ing w as led tiy Jack Ket, a tanner. It is a 
point worthy of notice that German mer- 
cenaries were employed in the suppression 
of these lisings. 

13. Pinkie, 7 miles from Edinburgh, in Mid- 

lothian. The battle took place in 1547. 

14. The Dauphin, afterwards Francis II. 

15. One great cause of complaint was the creat- 

ing of large sheep farms where there had 
been plonghed land before. 

16. Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, the father of 

the English Church, was put to death at 
O.xford in the Marian persecution. 

17. The spelling only is changed. 



■^^>?ef^'^=^-- 



TWO QUEENS. 



22.^ 



TWO QUEENS. 




LADY JANE GREY. 



THE Noble Lady Jane 
Grey/ — The ambi- 
tious Duke of Northum- 
berland^ brought about the 
downfall and execution of 
the good-hearted but fool- 
ish Protector. He then 
persuaded the young king, 
who was an enthusiastic 
supporter of Protestantism, 
that he had a right to 
dispose of the throne,^ and 
that the interests of the 
new religion rendered it necessary to pass over the two 
princesses, Mary and Elizabeth. Edward accordingly 
left the crown to the next in succession^ — the pious 
and learned Lady Jane Grey.^ The wily schemei had, 
meanwhile, effected a marriage between the heiress and 
his son ; and, in this way, he hoped that he should soon 
virtually hold within his grasp the sceptre of the 
realm. 

Lady Jane was very reluctant to exchange her delight- 
ful life of seclusion and study for the glitter and danger 
of a throne. The cunning worldlings around her proved 
too much for the natural good sense of the inexperienced 
and simple girl. They appealed to her love of religion ^ ; 
they then proved to her, ' with words clothed in reason's 
garb,' that her claim was the rightful one, so that she 
could be doing no injustice to her cousins, Mary and 
Elizabeth ; ' and, above all, they brought to ])ear upon 



224 



THE TUDOR DYNASTY— MARY. 



n 



her the full force of that parental authority to which 
her gentle nature had always submitted.^ 

She at last yielded to the combined influence of hus- 




LADY JANE GREY URGED TO ACCEPT THE CROWN 

band and parents, and for nine days was surrounded 
with all the pomp of royalty. It was on the loth of 
July 1553 that she was proclaimed in London, and pub- 
licly received at the Tower as queen ; but, by the 1 9th, 



TWO QUEENS. 225 

the supporters of Mary had triumphantly established her 
claim, and Lady Jane gladly returned to that retirement 
where — 

' Careless quiet lyes 
Wrapt in eternal silence farre from enimyes.'^ 

She was not allowed to enjoy this peaceful life; for 
she was quickly consigned to the Tower ; and, after 
seven months' imprisonment, was executed on the grassy 
plot in front of the gloomy place of her captivity. From 
the window of her cell, on the fatal morning, she saw 
her unhappy husband ^^ led to the block, and beheld his 
headless body borne to the grave. 

It was then that she finally welcomed her coming 
death as a glad release ; and wrote the last entry in 
that note-book which, girl-like, she had ever made the 
treasure-house of her sweetest thoughts — '' If my fault 
deserved punishment, my youth at least and my impru- 
dence were worthy of excuse. God and posterity will 
show me favour." 

The weary days she had spent alone had not been 
fruitless, for they had given her quiet to think calmly 
out the drama of her life. On the scaffold, she said 
that she had erred not through ambition but through 
reverence to her parents, and that she willingly received 
death for having injured the law. Her dying hope was 
that her story might teach to all the lesson that innocence 
does not excuse misdeeds if they tend to the destruction 
of the commonwealth ; and her last words were — " Lord, 
into thy hands, I commend my spirit." 

Thus passed away one of the most beautiful characters 
that make noble the history of England. Of such pure 
hearts as hers, one of her sweetest poets ^^ was thinking 
when he wrote these words : — ■ 



226 



THE XrJJOR DYNASTY— MARY. 




QUEEN MART. 



' Only a pure and virtuous soul, 
Like seasoned timber, never gives ; 
But, when the whole world turns to coal,^- 
Then chiefly lives.' 

The Daug"hter of Cathe- 
rine of Arag-on.— Mary was 
an unfortunate and most un- 
happy woman. Her youth 
had been a desolate one — she 
had seen her stately mother 
M degraded from the throne and 
|r> deprived of the name of wife, 
while she herself had been 
for years an outcast from the 
home of her childhood and 
from the affection of her father. 
Her marriage/^ which might have brought with it 
some comfort, caused only the bitterest disappoint- 
ment. From the first it had been disliked by her 
people, and even led to a revolt "^^ of which the avowed 
purpose was her dethronement and the elevation of her 
sister to the throne. Her husband, too, cared not for 
her, and, being wholly wrapt up in himself, had not the 
grace to assume a tenderness which he did not feel. 

She seems to have surrendered her will completely to 
her husband and the advisers whom he placed around 
her. Accordingly, England became, as it were, a mere 
province of Spain. In this matter, no pity for Mary's 
joyless life can prevent us from condemning her actions. 
The queen of a great country has no right to surrender 
the liberties of her people ; and' it must be said that, as 
a queen, Mary did more to enslave England than any 
sovereign who ever sat upon the throne.-^^ 



TWO QUEENS. 



227 



Still, let our last thoughts of her be gentle ones 
history of no country 
presents a more me- 
lancholy picture than 
the last days of Mary 
—a sad-eyed woman, 
unloved by her hus- 
band, childless, and 
(save for her grateful 
servants ^*^) almost 
friendless, descend- 
ing to the grave un- 
regretted by a people 
who had hailed her 
coming with enthu- 
siastic joy. 



The 




THE DEATH OF QUEEN MARY. 



1. The noble Lady Jane Grey. This illustrious 

lady is so called by a famous writer, 
Roger Ascbam, in bis book ' Tbe Scbole- 
master.' 

2. Duke of Northumberland, better known 

by the title of Earl of Warwick. He was 
the son of that Dudley who had been the 
agent of Henry VII. 's extortion. 

3. Northumberland reasoned tliat Edward had 

as much right as Henry VIII. to settle the 
succession. He forgot to tell Edward that 
it was Parliament that gave to Henry, and 
to Henry alone, the right. 

4. See table, p. 216. 

5. See p. 176. 

6. Lady Jane was a firm Protestant. 

7. They were her half-cousins. See table, p. 

216. 

8. At that time parents were very strict in their 

discipline. Roger Ascham tells us that 
Lady Jane's parents were extremely sharp 
and severe. 

9. Spenser's 'Fairy Queen,' B. i., c. i. 

10. Lord Guildford Dudley. Both husband and 



wife were executed on the same day — the 
11th February 1554. 

11. George Herbert (1593-1633), in his book called 

'The Temple.' 

12. Coal. This word used to mean 'anything 

that kindles or burns.' The poet therefore 
means that, at the Last Day, when the 
whole world is burned, the virtuous soul 
does not perish, but lives. 

13. "With Philip of Spain. It took place on the 

25th of July 1554. 

14. This was known as ''^'yatt's Rebellion.' It 

was made the occasion of ordering Lady 
Jane Grey's execution. 

15. This marriage was an evil one to the very 

last. Through it England became in- 
volved in a French war, in which Calais, 
which had been held by England for a cen- 
tury and a half, was surrendered to the 
enemy. Mary is said to have exclaimed 
that at her death the word ' Calais ' 
would be found written on her heart. 

16. Mary was especially kind and considerate to 

her servants. 




228 



THE TUDOE, DYNASTY 




ELIZABETH. 



THE GREAT ELIZABETH. 

1558-1603. 

^ — »^"^~^BNBRAL Character of the 
Reign. — Elizabeth had now 
reached her twenty-fifth 
year ; and, before the close 
of the reign, she had com- 
pleted the full threescore and 
ten. At her accession, diffi- 
culties and dangers threat- 
ened the realm. At home^ 
many entertained doubts . as 
to the legitimacy of the new 
queen, ^ and the nation was 
almost equally divided be- 
tween the two religious bodies ; while ahroad, England 
had fallen from its former lofty position and become the 
mere protege '"^ of Spain. But at her death, Elizabeth 
left her kingdom united, prosperous, and raised to a 
loftier pitch of greatness than it had ever reached before. 
Previous reigns may have been longer ; ^ but this one 
stands unrivalled in its sustained progress, which 
culminated in the stately splendour of what has ever 
since been called the Elizabethan Period. 

As the years rolled on, England ceased to remain 
fnerely on the defensive ; and began to pursue a more 
active policy, and to play a loftier part on the stage of 
the world. The course of European history and the 
bold courage of her people caused her to act as Cham- 
pion of Frotestantism in Europe ; the spirit of naval 
enterprise animated her mariners, who made the name of 



THE GREAT ELIZABETH. 229 

this island known on every sea ; and lier people began 
tliat iDarvellous colonising movement wliicli has erected 
the most enduring monument of England's greatness."* 

From this world-wide ' positive ' ^ course of action, 
there arose in the hearts of the people that ' Conscious- 
ness of Worth ' so necessary both to nations and in- 
dividuals. Gathering up into one splendid ideal all the 
glories of the past and the triumphs of the present, 
Englishmen began to feel a new-born exultant pride in 
their race and country; they believed that it was a 
special privilege to have had their ' limbs made in 
England,' were eager to show the world ^ the mettle of 
their pasture,' and to be copy to ' men of baser blood.' *" 

Before the time of this great queen, it would have 
been impossible for any poet to have sung to England 
strains so melodious as these : " This precious stone set in 
a silver sea ; " " This blessed spot, this earth, this realm, 
this England ; " "^ " Little body with a mighty heart." ^ 

Elizabeth as a Woman. — The Elizabeth who led her 
people on- ' this path of glory ' was by no means a perfect 
character. Not strictly beautiful in form, she was yet 
stately in bearing and witty in conversation ; and she was 
possessed of a high-minded self-respect that enabled 
lier to pass safely through temptations which might have 
overcome a weaker woman. On the other hand, she was 
vain and coquettish, wayward and capricious. Above 
all, even to old age, she was intensely fond of admiration. 

Accordingly, she was constantly surrounded by a 
circle of favourites, on whom she conferred the most 
lucrative posts at her disposal — courtiers who had 
attracted her notice by their beauty, wit, or lover-like 
adoration, and who could hope to retain their positions 
only by romantic gallantries and tender flatteries. Thus 



23© THE TUDOR DYNASTY. 

it was that tlie adventurous Raleigh ^ won her favour by 




KALEIGH AND ELIZABETH. 



deftly spreading his velvet cloak upon the muddy ground, 



THE GREAT ELIZABETH. 



231 



lest she should soil her dress in j)assing onward towards 
the river ; and thus, too, he rose in her regard, until he 
became (as the poet Spenser calls him ^^) his ' sovereign 
goddess's most dear delight/ 

Another little glimpse into that now dim courtier- 
world which Elizabeth, to the last, loved to see around 
her, is given to us in the story of a little poem written 
by the noble Sir Philip Sidney/^ Between the leaves 
of a dust-covered copy of the Arcadia, in the old library 
of Wilton House, was found a faded yellow paper, which, 
when opened, disclosed to view a lock of hair ' soft and 
bright, and of a light brown colour inclining to red.'^^ 
On the paper containing this relic of a past century, 
were written these words : — ' This lock of Queen Eliza- 
beth's own hair was presented to Sir Philip Sidney by 
her Majesty's owne fair hande, on which he made these 
verses, and gave them to the queen on his bended knee. 
Anno Domini ^^ i 5 7 3- ' '* Pinned to this first paper was 
a second, on which were traced these words : — 

" Her inward worth all outward show transcends, 
Envy her merits with regret commends ; 
Like sparkling gems her virtues draw the sight, 
And in her conduct^^ she is alwaies^^ bright. 
When she imparts her thoughts her words have force, 
And sense and wisdom flow in sweet discourse." 

Elizabeth was also fond of luxury and splendour. 
She liked to visit in state her great nobles, making 
brilliant processions through the country as she passed 
to and from their seats. There they strove to entertain 
her in the most gorgeous and costly manner — days of 
pageantry and pleasure being followed by evenings of 
stately dance and gallant courtesy. 

Elizabeth as a Queen. — How was it, then, that this 



232 THE TUDOR DYNASTY. 

pleasn re-loving, capricious woman led tlie English people 
to honour and glory ? The answer is not difficult. You 
have already learned that the greatest crime a king can 
commit is the neglect of his royal duties as governor 
and defender of his people. Now Elizabeth never for 
a moment forgot that she was the ruler of a mighty em- 
pire. As a woman, she may have been unamiable and 
full of faults ; but, as a sovereign, she ever sought the 
good of her people ; as a queen, she ]3layed well her part, 
and ' there all the honour lies.' 

In this aspect of her character, Elizabeth appears as 
' more than man.' ^^ From her father she inherited great 
working power and excellent ability ; and she had care- 
fully cultivated her naturally powerful intellect."^^ She 
could feel, as even few men feel, a steady, unselfish in- 
terest in a great cause. Every public act of her reign, 
her numerous letters to sovereigns and others, all her 
dealings with her ministers, reveal a bold, imperious, 
energetic spirit. This ' energy ' was, however, completely 
under the control of a far-seeing prudence. One can 
hardly believe that the subtle caution which marked all 
her dealings with France and Spain, belongs to the im- 
pulsive being who 23ublicly boxed the ears of the favourite 
who had offended her.'^ Accordingly, just as the vain 
woman listened well-pleased to flattering courtiers, so 
the prudent qv.ccn surroimded Iter throne with wise states- 
men, to whom she hahitucdly looked for eounsel. 

The light in which she regarded these ministers is 
well shown in words of her own. Her chief adviser 
was Cecil, who was made Lord Burleigh. In choosing 
him she spoke as follows : — '' This judgment I have of 
you, that you will not be corrupted with any manner of 
gifts, and that you will be faithful to the State, and that 



THE GREAT ELIZABETH. 



233 



withoitt respect to my 'private will you will give me tliat 
counsel which you think best." And with that know- 
ledge of men which seems instinctively to belong to 
those fitted to lead their fellows, she chose wisely — for 
never had sovereign a more sagacious and devoted 
minister, than she had in the great statesman who suc- 
cessfully guided her through all the dangers of her reign. 

On the other hand, she never permitted even her 
most trusted adviser to subdue her will or dictate her 
course of action. In a letter to James VI. of Scotland 
on this matter, she writes as follows : — " Must a king be 
prescribed what councillors he shall take, as if you were 
their ward ? Shall you be obliged to tie or undo what 
they list to make or revoke ? If I might appoint their 
university^ they should he assigned to learn first to oheyT 

Accordingly, while praising the fidelity and wisdom 
of Elizabeth's advisers, the genius, corn-age, and skill of 
her courtier-soldiers, and the bold enterprise of her 
adm^irals, all must feel that 'the master-spirit' of the 
reign is none other than the great queen herself. 



1. The Roman Catliolics could not receive the 

divorce of Catherine of Aragon as lawful, 
and accordingly held that Henry could not 
marry legally during her lifetime. Now 
Elizabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyu, 
was born while Catherine was alive, and 
was therefore regarded by some as illegi- 
timate. 

2. Protege, one under the ^iro^crfron of another. 

3. Elizabeth reigned 45 years ; Henry III. (121fi- 

1272) 56 years; Edward III. (1327-1377) 50 
years ; George III. (1700-1820) CO years ; our 
gracious Queen began to reign 1837. 

4. England's magnificent colonies are the most 

wonderful proofs of her greatness. 

5. Positive here means decisive, definite, ac- 

tive. The opposite term is 'negative.' 

6. The quotations are from Shakespeare's play 

of Henry V., act ii. sc. 1. 

7. These quotations are from Shakespeare's 

play of Richard II., act ii. sc. 2. 

8. This quotation is from Henry V., actii. chorus. 

9. Raleigh (1552-1618), a famous courtier and 

discoverer of this reign. He founded the 
col'iny of Virginia. He was also distin- 



guished as a poet, historian, and scholar. 

In one of the Introductory sonnets to his 
great poem of The Fairy Queen. 

Sidney (1551-1586). He was the author of 
various poems. His great work is a prose 
romance called Arcadia. 

The relic was exhibited before the Archteo- 
logical Society of Wilts at Salisbury in 
September 1854. 

Anno Domini, means 'in the year of the 
Lord,' i.e., since the birth of Christ. It is 
usually written A.D. 

Sir Philip was at this time 19 years of age, 
Elizabeth was 40. 

Conduct has not quite our ordinary com- 
monplace meaning here. It means 'man- 
agement of the realm ' as well as ' manage- 
ment of herself.' 

Alwaies, i.e. alu-ays. 

Elizabeth's minister Cecil said of her that 
she was 'more than man and less than 
woman.' 

See p. 176. 

Elizabeth boxed the ears of the Earl of Essex, 
the favourite of her old age. 



■234 THE TUDOR DYNASTY. 

THE POLICY OF ELIZABETH. 

ELIZABETH at Home and abroad. ^ — The home and 
the foreign policy of this reign are so closely con- 
nected as to be inseparable. England, as has been said, 
had lost its place as one of the great powers of Europe. 
The statesmen of the Continent had learned to look 
upon England as quite unable to defend itself, and as 
preserved from conquest by either France or Spain only 
by the mutual rivalry of these empires. 

Now Cecil and Elizabeth resolutely set themselves to 
play off the jealousy of these western powers, the one 
against the other, until by a wise home policy they 
might make England once more able to stand alone, 
and to pursue its own destiny ' safe from interference of 
external force.' In this difficult, and (in the opinion of 
all but themselves) almost hopeless task, the queen and 
her minister were thoroughly successful. 

What was to be the ' wise home policy ' which would 
once more make the country strong ? Elizabeth desired 
to return in the main to the position in religious matters 
held by her father — a separation from Rome in ecclesias- 
tical government and organisation, but unity with the 
Catholic Church in all essential doctrines. Cecil saw 
that this course would certainly fail, for it would still 
leave England dependent upon one or other of the two 
great powers. He held that the only honourable and 
safe course for England was to identify herself with the 
Protestant cause ; that by aiding the Reformed Church 
in the Netherlands against Spain, and the Huguenots in 
France, this country would so weaken these kingdoms 
that they would be powerless to attack her and she 
would be independent of both. In this matter, aided by 



THE GREAT ELIZABETH. 235 

tlie course of events, Cecil gradually won over the re- 
luctant queen ; and thus England, as she grew stronger, 
gradually became the champion of Protestantism. 

Protestantism was re-established by two Acts of Parlia- 
ment : ^ the first declared the queen head of the Church, 
and the second enacted that all clergymen should use 
the English Book of Common Prayer. Elizabeth certainly 
allowed freedom of opinion, but she insisted that all 
within the realm should conform outwardly to the service 
of the Church. Her view of the matter was quite clear. 
^' The law of the land," she reasoned, " has prescribed a 
certain form of worship, and to that every good subject 
must adhere." It is very remarkable that even those 
whom Elizabeth persecuted for refusing to conform, 
regarded her, in common with the great mass of her 
people, with enthusiastic and loyal affection. 

By a wise economy and the encouragement of national 
industry^ and commerce, Elizabeth led her country 
(which grew more and more Protestant in spirit) to 
become prosperous, contented, and strong; and when 
at last the long-delayed attack by one of the two great 
powers took place, England was able to rise in her native 
might, and, unaided, to hurl back upon the invader the 
destruction with which he had threatened her shores.^ 

The Hero of Zutphen. — Spain at that time had pos- 
session of the Netherlands. • The northern states had 
become Protestant ; and, driven by persecution, they at 
length rebelled and formed themselves into an indepen- 
dent state. There was thus formed the country now called 
by us Holland, then known by the name of the Bepublic 
of the United Provinces.* 

Without declaring war against Spain, Elizabeth had 
long encouraged her subjects to aid the people of the 



236 THE TUDOR DYNASTY. 

Netherlands in tlieir struggle for freedom. As the heroic 
but unequal conflict grew more desperate, the popular 
feeling in England ran high against Spain ; privateers 
swarmed from all the western ports to attack her coasts 
and commerce ; and at last Elizabeth determined to send 
an army to the scene of war.^ 

The expedition was ill-equipped, badly supported, and 
altogether a failure. It was at sea, not on land, that 
England's road to greatness lay. The army was placed 
under the command of the Earl of Leicester, the chief 
favourite of the queen but a most incompetent general. 

One incident, however, redeems the campaign from 
oblivion. The English army had laid siege to the for- 
tress of Zutphen,^ and the famous Duke of Parma led 
a Spanish army to its release. Leicester thought that 
but a small force was on the march, and sent Sir Philip 
Sidney with five hundred men to stop its advance. 

Attacked by overwhelming numbers, the Englishmen 
fought with surpassing valour, but were at last driven 
back. The greatest loss was that of their noble leader. 
This brave knight was looked upon with admiration by 
every one in England ; he was called ' the last flower of 
chivalry,' and was distinguished alike as a writer, a 
courtier, and a soldier. 

The last scene of his life was worthy of his career of 
honour. As he lay bleeding upon the ground, his sor- 
rowful followers brought him a little water to cool his 
parched lips, and he thanked them as he raised the flask 
to his mouth. At that moment a wounded soldier was 
borne past. His longing eyes lingered upon the pre- 
cious draught. The dying hero caught that wistful look ; 
and, stretching out his hand, he gave his fellow-sufferer 
the water he needed so much himself — saying the 



THE GREAT ELIZABETH. 



237 



while, ' Drink, Comrade ! tliy necessity is greater than 
mine.' 

All England bewailed the ' timeless fate, ' ^ of one who 




•DEIilK, COMBADE ! THY NECESSITY IS GREATER THAN MINE.' 

had been regarded by all as the most generous and nobly 
of her sons ; and from that day to this, the memory of 



238 THE TUDOR DYNASTY— ELIZABETH. 

liis last unselfish act has never been allowed to pass into 
forgetfulness — 

' For th-ose bright laurels never fade with years, 
Whose leaves are watered by a nation's tears.' 



1. Passed iu 1558; the first is called the Act of 
Supreiiiat-y, the second, the Act of Unifor- 
mity. 

'2. Industries. Crowds of artisans, cloth- 
weavers, &c., poured into England to 
escape the persecution in the Nether- 
lands. 

3. This refers to the Armada. 



4. This took place in 1579. Holland is still 

properly called the Netherlands. 

5. This took place in 1586. 

6. Zutphen, on the river Issel, in the north of 

Holland 

7. Timeless fate, i.e., untimely fate. The words 

are from Sir Walter Raleigh's short poeiu 
on the death of Sir Philip Sydney. 



THE ARMADA. 

THE Causes of the Armada. — The name ' Armada '^ 
is applied to a great fleet fitted out by Philip of 
Spain ^ for the avowed purpose of deposing Elizabeth 
from the throne.^ It was for a crisis like this that 
Cecil and his queen had been for thirty years prudently 
preparing ; and the result fully entitles both minister 
and monarch to the name of ' Great.' English patriot- 
ism responded nobly to the summons of danger ; and 
every man within the realm was ready to fight to the 
death in defence of the liberty of bis country. 

The causes of the hostility between Spain and Eng- 
land were various. In the first place, undoubtedlyj was 
the religious difference between the nations. The 
Spanish people were devotedly attached to the Roman 
Catholic Church, and hated the English bitterly for sup- 
porting the rebels in Holland ; while, on the other 
hand, the commercial classes in England, who formed 
the strength of the Protestant party, were not one whit 
behind in the intensity of their antipathy ^ to Spain. 

The second ground of rivalry is to be found in the 
struggle for naval supremacy. Spain was at this time 



THE AHMAD A. 239 

' monarch of the ocean,' but the bold seamen of England, 
stirred by their new-born spirit of ' maritime enterprise,' 
were determined to dispute the sovereignty of the sea ; 
and privateers swarmed from her ports, whose mariners 
were animated by undying hostility towards everything 
Spanish. The Spaniards retaliated, and subjected to 
torture, imprisonment, and death English sailors who 
i'ell into their hands. Few of their prisoners escaped 
alive ; and the rovers from England regarded themselves 
as the ' ministers of vengeance and pursuit ' ^ against the 
murderers of lost fathers, brothers, and comrades. 

The same spirit of hostility was manifested in the 
West, where the Spaniards maintained their right to 
the possession of the entire New World. The adven- 
turous ' mariners of England,' worthy sons of the Saxon 
seamen and Norse Vikings of old, challenged this 
gigantic claim, and thus interfered with Spain in its 
colonial empire and mercantile monopoly. Many daring 
expeditions were made by the hardy seamen of England, 
who learned to look without dread upon the huge ships 
of their enemy. 

Further, Philip was incensed at the help given by Eliza- 
beth to the Netherlands, and had perhaps been wounded 
by her refusal to marry him. He also declared that he 
came to avenge the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. 

Mary Queen of Scots. — This beautiful but unfortunate 
queen had offended Elizabeth and endangered the safety 
of the throne by assuming the title of Queen of England f 
and she had refused to renounce her claim unless she were 
recognised as heiress to the crown in case of Elizabeth's 
death. 

Her career was one of the most stirring and event- 
ful that history presents to us. Within a week of her 



240 



THE TUDOR, DYNASTY— ELIZABETH. 



1 



birtli '^ she became monarch of Scotland ; and in her 
seventeenth year she had been crowned Queen of France. 
After a year of magnificence, her young* husband died, 
and she had then to return to her gloomy northern 
realm. Eight years of strife and folly were followed 
by her imprisonment in the lonely island of Lochleven.^ 
She was there forced to abdicate ; but, after a year's cap- 
tivity, escaped. The defeat of Langside^ however, drove 

her to take refuge with her 
lit rival of England. ^^ 

She was, by Elizabeth 
and her ministers, kept 
for nineteen years in cap- 
tivity, and was then, on 
the 8 th of February 1587, 
executed at Fotheringay 
Castle. This deed will 
ever remain the foulest 
blot on the memory of 
the English queen. Nei- 
^ ^ tlier she nor her ministers 
had any right to take 
away the life of the ill-starred rival whom unmerciful 
disaster had compelled to seek shelter on their shores. 

Mary Stuart has been accused not only of follies, but 
of crimes. Those who sit as judges upon this erring 
woman should remember that the whole active part of 
her life was over before she was twenty-five years of age.-^^ 
No opportunity of redeeming her past was ever given 
to the ' prisoner of Fotheringay.' ^^ 

Preparations for the Strug-gle. — Meanwhile, the 
whole resources of both nations were being prepared for 
the coming struggle. In the harbours of Spain, Portugal, 




QUEEN MAKY. 



THE ARMADA. 241 

!Na,ples, and Sicily ceaseless activity prevailed until there 
was equipped a magnificent fleet of 135 ships/^ carry- 
ing 3765 guns, 8000 seamen, and 19,000 soldiers. 
The command was given to the greatest of Spanish 
admirals, the veteran Santa Cruz. 

. This was not all ; for the rivers and canals of Belgium ^^ 
swarmed with flat-bottomed boats which were to convey 
to England a splendid force of 30,000 infantry and 
18,000 cavalry. The Spaniards, dreaming that only a 
victory at sea and a triumph on shore awaited them, 
exultingly called their fleet ' The Invincible Armada.' 

While England was making its preparations, the gal- 
lant Drake ^^ was sent to destroy every ship he could 
find on the coasts of Spain. In Cadiz Eoads ^^ alone 
he captured or burned 80 vessels, and then destroyed 
100 more between that port and Cape St. Yincent.-^^ 

In England, an army and a fleet had both to be formed. 
For the former purpose the militia were enrolled and 
divided into two bodies — one of 36,000 men being set 
apart for the bodyguard of the queen, the other of 30,000 
men for the defence of the capital. As no one could 
tell where the invader might land, the armed inhabitants 
were so organised that 20,000 men could assemble at 
any part of the coast within twenty- four hours. 

Never did Elizabeth bear herself more nobly, and 
her courao'e called forth the most enthusiastic devotion 
in the hearts of her people. A great camp had been 
formed at Tilbury Fort '^ on the Thames ; and there 
she is said to have reviewed her troops, and to have 
addressed them in words that stirred the nation ' like 
the blast of a trumpet : ' — " I know I have the body 
of a weak feeble woman ; but I have the heart of a 
king, and of a king of England too, and think foul 
m " o 



242 THE TUDOR DYNASTY— ELIZABETH. 

shame that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, 




THOSE HUGE CASTLES OF CASTILIAN KING. 

should clare to invade the borders of mv realm ; to which 



THE ARMADA. 243 

rather than any dishonour should grow by me, 1 myself 
will take up arms." 

Still greater importance depended upon the equip- 
ment of a fleet. The royal navy then consisted of but 
thirty-six moderately-sized vessels ; and had not Eng- 
land answered to the call with that spirit which makes 
a nation invincible, this land would ahnost certainly 
have been conquered by the veteran soldiers of Spain. 

At length, 147 vessels, mostly of small size, were 
ready to meet the overwhelming force of the enemy. 
The guns were in number hardly one^fourth of the 
enemy's artillery; but the ships were manned by 
1 6,coo seamen — men inured to hardship and danger 
on every sea. This intrepid band of heroes was com- 
manded by the noble Lord Howard of EffinghaTu. Under 
him were Drake, Hawkins, Raleigh, Frobisher, and many 
other experienced seamen. A second fleet under Lord 
Seymour was sent to watch the coasts of Flanders. 

The Fight for Freedom. — Disaster attended the 
Armada from the very outset. Its admiral died, and 
in his place was appointed the Duke of Medina- Sidonia, 
who had no knowledge of naval aflairs. Again, hardly 
had it set sail, when a great storm scattered it, and 
drove it back to Corunna ^^ to refit. 

Howard sailed southward to ascertain the real state 
of the enemy, and then a south-west wind bore him 
back to England. The great Armada followed him ; 
and he had just cast anchor in Plymouth harbour when 
a swift boat brought the tidings that the Spanish fleet 
had been sighted off the Lizard. ^^ Drake and his 
fellow-captains were ashore playing at bowls at the time, 
and coolly went on with their sport — the hero of Cadiz 
calmly saying, '' No hurry, my friends ; I know these 



-44 



THE TUDOR DYNASTY-ELIZABETH. 



lagging Spaniards. We have plenty of time to finish 
the game and then beat the enemy." 

On the next day, the 20th of Jaly j .88 the Fno-li«]. 
I-d their fet m view of the Span^ ailment' t 

s lence. Their very bulk proved their destrnction ; for 
the low-lymg Englishships dashed in below the rlno-e 
of their guns, and attacked them almost with impunity 
In the very first skirmish, Drake captured a large 

treasure ship, and three 
great galleons were also 
taken. Twice the brave 
Howard led an attack 
against the whole line of 

the enemy ; and on both 
• 01 _ 



occasions"^ he had to 



k draw off his ships, simply 
I because they had not a 
single round of ammuni- 
tion left. 

As the Armada ad- 
vanced up the Channel, 
sinall ships dashed out of 
every creek to have one shot at the hated foe • for the 
great struggle was yet to come, and the fate of Europe 
depended upon the union of the still mighty fleet 
with the forces of Parma. ^ ^ 

Well did^ the poet Spenser, in his sonnet to Lord 
iloward, praise him and his men : — 

" Sith22 those huge castles of Castilian kino- 
That vamly threatened kingdoms to displace, 
Like flying doves ye did before you chase." 

On the 2;th of July, the Armada reached Calais, 




SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 



THE ARMADA. 245 

and it remained there instead of sailing on to Dun- 
kirk,'^^ where Parma lay. On the night of the 29th, 
Howard sent eight fire-ships in among them. These 
terrible vessels filled the enemy with dismay. The 
anchors of many were cut ; and, as the wind rose, they 
did one another mach damage in the confusion. 

That night a fierce gale blew, and when the Armada 
rallied at Gravelines^^ it numbered only eighty ships. 
All the rest had perished in the storm or been captured ; 
and the disheartened survivors sailed round the north 
of Scotland. The want of ammunition alone prevented 
the English from utterly destroying the Spanish fleet. 

As it was, the fugitives found in the elements another 
and not less terrible foe. The wild coast of Scotland. 
and the rock-bound shores of Norway, were strewn with 
the fragments of the shattered ships. 

The storm-blast still pursued them, ^ tyrannous and 
strong ; ' making the Western Islands and the wave-beaten 
crags of Ireland ^^ the scenes of many wrecks. 

At last, about the end of September, fifty weather- 
beaten ships crept into harbour in Spain — their crews 
exhausted with wounds, disease, and labour. In achiev- 
ing this momentous victory, the English fleet had lost 
but one vessel and a very few men. 

Effects of the Armada. — It is needless to speak of 
the profound joy that filled the hearts and homes of 
England. All, even the most worldly, ascribed the 
victory to God, ' who blew, and they were scattered.' 

The effects of this triumph may be briefly stated. Pro- 
testantism was now rendered secure, and Elizabeth 'was 
regarded by the ' free and the enterprising throughout 
the world,' as the champion of religious freedom. 

In England all strife of party was hushed : and 



246 



THE TUDOR DYNASTY— ELIZABETH. 



henceforward no breath of plot or danger ever again 
threatened the great queen. This left the people un- 
disturbed to enjoy to the fullest the rich intellectual 
splendour of the closing years of the reign. There 
followed, however, a series of retaliatory expeditions 
against Spain, which kept alive the national hatred 
against that humbled nation. 

Finally (one is almost ashamed to write it), this 
divine triumph was followed by a severe persecution of 
the Roman Catholics. This was doubly unjust and 
cruel. Lord Howard of Effingham, the successful 
admiral, was himself of that religion ; and no English- 
men had fought more bravely than those now pursued 
and attacked. So true is it that the age was one in 
which the spirit of toleration was not understood even 
by those who used its name. 



1. Armada, a fleet of armed ships. 

2. Philip was the mightiest prince of the age. 

His doniinions included Spain, Naples, 
Sicily, the Netherlands, and the greater 
part of North America. 

3. He had been brooding over this expedition 

for fifteen years (perhaps since 1565), and 
h.ad been making preparations for five 
years. 

4. Antipathy, intense hatred ; the word lite- 

rally means -a feeling against any one. 

5. This quotation is from Milton s 'Paradise 

Lost,' Book I. 

6. See table, page 216. If Henry VIII. 's divorce 

was ill-egal (as the Roman Catholics held), 
then his marriage with Anne Boleyn was 
also illegal, and Elizabeth would therefore 
be illegitimate. 

7. Mary was born in December 1542. 

8. Lochleven, in Kinross. 

9. Langside, near Glasgow. 

10. Mary saikd across the Solway in an open 

fishing boat on the 16th May 1568. She 
landed at Workington on the coast of Cum- 
berland. 

11. Mary's active life really ended with her im- 

prisonment in Lochleven Castle In 1.567, 
when she had not completed her twenty- 
fifth year. 



12. Fotheringay Castle, on the Nen in North- 

ampton, 27 miles N.-E. of Northampton. 

13. It is interesting to compare the ships of those 

days with our own ironclads. The 135 
vessels of the Armada had a total tonnage 
of 59,120 tons, or an average of 438 tons. 
At the end of 1881 the eight largest ships 
of the British navy had 65,959 tons, an 
average of 8,245 tons. 

14. Belgium and Holland were then often spoken 

of as the Low Countries. 

15. In 1587. This expedition of Drake's delayed 

the Armada for a whole year. 

16. Cadiz, on the S.W. coast of Spain. 

17. Cape St. Vincent, on the S.W. coast of 

Portugal . 

18. Tilbury Fort, on the Essex side of the 

Thames, opposite Gravesend. 

19. Corunna, on N.W. coast of .Spain. 

20. This took place on the 19th July 1588. 

21. On the 23rd and 25th of July 1588. 

22. Sith, i.e., since. 

23. Dunkirk, now in French Flanders, very near 

the frontier of Belgium. 

24. Gravelines, in extreme N.E. of France, near 

Calais. 

25. A harbour near the Giant's Causeway, in the 

north of Ireland, is still called Fort na 
Spagna or Port of Spain. 



'^H^^^^^-*^ 



THE ELIZABETHAN PERIOD. 



247 



THE ELIZABETHAN PERIOD. 




J^HB Literary Outburst.— 



The term ' Elizabethan 
Period ' -^ is applied in 
histories of our literature 
to that which begins after 
the destruction of the Ar- 
mada. The great writers 
of this time had grown 
up under Elizabeth, and 
some of them survived her 
death, leaving an ' after- 
glow' like the rich colours 



SHAKESPEARE. 



of an autumn sunset, to 
render beautiful the reign which followed. 

No other period of our literature, except that of the 
present Victorian era, can compare with this either in 
variety of writers or in greatness of genius. Of the list 
of authors under these two queens, it is difficult to say 
which is the more splendid ; the modern galaxy con- 
tains the larger number of illustrious names, the Eliza- 
bethan firmament is rendered brilliant by the greater 
number of stars of the first magnitude. 

To give even the names of these immortal writers 
would be impossible here, and you must be content to 
learn a little of four of Elizabeth's great men. 

First in time comes Spenser,^ father of English pas- 
toral poetry, and the author of the great allegorical poem 
of the "Fairy Queen." In this work, the 'Fairyland' is 
this fair realm of England ; and its queen represents in 
one person both ' Glory ' and the great Elizabeth, who is 



248 THE TUDOR DYNASTY. 

sought after by Prince Arthur, the perfected knight and 
gentleman. He thus writes of the English sovereign : — 

''And thou, fairest princess under sky, 
In this fair mirror may'st behold thy face, 
And thine own realms in Land of Fair3\" 

The works of Spenser contain in so exquisite a form 
the very essence of poetry, that he has become known 
to all his readers as the ' Poets' Poet.' 

A great writer has finely said that the Elizabethan 
era gave birth to the three great ideas of modern times : 
that Shakespeare ^ revealed the modern social idea, Bacon * 
the modern scientific one, and Hooker^ the modern poli- 
tical one. Let us try to learn what is meant by this. 

Shakespeare is the greatest dramatist that the world 
has ever produced, and is recognised as the foremost 
man of the Anglo-Saxon race. Now, a drama is a mimic 
world made by the author ; and by observing the laws 
according to which a dramatist governs his little world, 
we may find out his views of the greater world of the 
Creator. Now upon what idea, has Shakespeare framed 
his worlds ? In contrast to the spirit of feudal and 
chivalrous times, which separated the barons and the 
belted knight from the inferior beings below them, this 
great Seer declared the essential identity of all, the 
similarity of their passions and feelings, and their eqiudity 
in the sight of justice and of God. 

" In the corrupted currents of this world, 
Offence's gilded hand may shove by justice; 
And oft 'tis seen the wicked prize itself 
Buys out the law : but 'tis not so above ; 
There is no shufflin.oj — there the action lies 



THE ELIZABETHAN PERIOD. 



249 



In his true nature ; and we ourselves compell'd, 
Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults, 
To give in evidence." ^ 

The views of life which, in modern times, lead to the 
numberless agencies for the relief of the sick, the suffer- 
ing, and the poor, are those which led Mm to write — 

" The quality of mercy is not strained, 
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 
Upon the place beneath : it is twice bless'd ; 
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes." ^ 

In this, and in many other ways, Shakespeare disclosed 
the modern social idea. 

Before the time of Bacon, those who called themselves 
philosophers submitted to the authority of a celebrated 
Greek writer called Aris- 
totle,^ and thought that ^ f t^ 
truth was to be discovered (®^^^' 
merely by arguing or y,< 
speculating about the ' 

causes of things. Bacon, (■2)/^^r'>LTO|^i /^*^^^^^'iv^' 
in a great work called the J^^|^^^ '^^ .iv^K^^^lt^ 
' Novum Organum,' the 
new organ or instrument, 1^- 
proclaimed that man's first ^j 
duty, if he wished to know^ \@)^^y^ 
the truth about the world, ] (^ f'^ 
was humbly to learn from 
the universe around, to 
ohserve, to begin with facts. He declared that if man 
desired to be the lord of nature, he must first be its 
obedient slave. This method of beginning with observed 
facts, and gradually arranging these facts in an orderly 




BACON. 



250 THE TUDOR DYNASTY. 

way until we discover the laws of nature, is called the in- 
ductive method. All modern science follows the Baconian 
plan, and that is what is meant by saying that Bacon 
first clearly thought out the modern scientific idea. 

Sooher was the author of a great work called ' Eccle- 
siastical Polity:' In it, while dealing mainly with 
Church government, he, in melodious and eloquent lan- 
guage, propounds the theory that the rule of a monarch is 
founded upon a compact between the sovereign and the 
people — the sovereign promising, by his coronation oath, 
to keep the laws ; the people, as expressed by the oath 
of allegiance, agreeing to be loyal to their king. Thus 
the ultimate source of authority is in the will of the 
whole people. It follows that if a ruler break and despise 
the laws, he may properly be removed from the throne ; 
and it equally follows that individual members of a com- 
munity should keep the laws laid down by the whole 
society. This is the theory upon which our present 
monarchy is established ; and thus it was that Hooker 
enunciated the modern politiccd idea. 

These four men were the leaders of a host of great 
writers, so that you will now begin to understand how 
original and fresh was the genius of these Elizabethan 
thinkers, and how much of our modern life is founded 
upon their teachings. 

The Kaval Enterprise of this Period.— The Eliza- 
bethans, it has been said, went out upon great enter- 
prises singing songs of surpassing beauty. You have 
been reading of the singers at home in England; 
and it would not be right for you to turn from this 
period without learning a little more about the hardy 
seamen who led the way in the career of discovery, naval 
supremacy,^ and colonisation, which has rendered so 



THE ELIZABETHAN PERIOD. 



2tI 



glorious the later pages of England's history. The 
mariners of those days set no limits to their daring. 
They had learned that the earth was a sphere ; Colum- 
bus, the Cabots, and others had given the hint that there 
were rich lands upon this earth yet undiscovered ; and 
the bold seamen determined to rest not until they had 
rounded-in this little world. 

Perhaps the best way to give you a notion of how 
much these old __=3.- _= 

investigators -^^ j*^^=s- 

did, will be to ^ 

place before 
you a brief 
account of one 
who wrote 
about them. 
Near the end 
of Elizabeth's 
reign, a very 
laborious geo- 
grapher, called 
H a k 1 u y t,^^ 
published three 
volumes under ships of the Elizabethan period. 

the following title: 'The Principal Navigations, Voyages, 
Traffiques, and Discoveries of the English Nation, made 
by Sea or over Land, to the Remote and Farthest Distant 
Quarters of the Earth.' 

The first volume tells of these subjects : — Voyages to 
the north and norih-east, the true state of Iceland, the 
defeat of the Spanish Armada, and other kindred topics. 
The second gives a full account of travels to the south 
and south-east, that is, along the coast of Africa and 




2S2 



THE TUDOR DYNASTY. 



round the Cape of Good Hope. The third volume, the 
most interesting of all, describes expeditions to North 
America, the "West Indies, and round the world. 

The thoroughness with which these seamen did their 
work is admirably shown in a book written by John 




QUEEN ELIZABETH KNIGHTING DKAKE ON HIS EETURN FROM HIS VOYAGE 

ROUND THE WORLD. 

Davies, who himself made three voyages in search of a 
North-West route to China, and discovered the well- 
known straits, ever since called by his name.-^^ 

In this book -^^ he tries to show " that the world in 
all his zones and places is habitable and inhabited, the 



THE ELIZABETHAN PERIOD. 253 

seas likewise universally navigable without any natural 
annoyance to hinder the same ; whereby appears that 
from England there is a short and speedy passage into 
the South Seas to China, Mahicca, Phillipina and India, 
by northerly navigation, to the renown, honour, and 
benefit of her Majesty's state and commonalty." 

Truly Spenser but breathed the' spirit of his age when 
he uttered these bold lines : — 

" But let that man with better sense advise, 
That of the world least part to us is read ; 
And daily how through hardy enterprise 
Many great regions are discovered, 
Which to late age were never mentioned. 
Who ever heard of the Indian Peru ? 
Or who in venturous vessel measured 
The Amazon's huge river, now found true ? 
Or fruitf ullest Virginia who did ever view ? " ^^ 

The imagination of the age even reached beyond the 
bounds of this little earth, for Spenser hints that man 
will yet know of other worlds than this — 

"What if within the moon's fair shining sphere, 
What if in every other star unseen, 
Of other worlds he happily should hear ? " 

Ere leaving this subject, you would j^ei'haps like to 
read a little poem about our earliest colonists. It is 
written by a poet called Andrew Marvell, who was born 
at the close of the period, but it very beautifully dis- 
closes the noble feelings of those who at that time left 
this island to seek homes across the wide ocean. It is 
called 'The Emigrants in the Bermudas,' and the follow- 
ing are four of the verses : — 

" Where the remote Bermudas ride 
In the ocean's bosom unespied, 



2 54 



THE TUDOR DYNASTY. 



From a small boat that rowed along, 
The listeniDg winds received this song : 

' What should we do bnt sing His praise 
That led us through the watery maze 
Unto an isle so long unknown, 
And yet far kinder than our own ? 

' let our voice His praise exalt, 
Till it arrive at heaven's vault, 
Which then perhaps rebounding may 
Echo beyond the Mexique bay.' 

Thus sang they in the English boat 
A holy and a cheerful note, 
And all the way, to guide their chime, 
AVith falling oars they kept the time." 

The Close of the Period. — The close of the reign of 
splendour and glory was one of gloom and sorrow. Tlie 
great queen, now full of years, fell into a state of pro- 
found melancholy. She became gradually reduced in 
body ; grew morose and suspicious ; refused to lie upon 
a bed, remaining propped up on a stool, and spending 
her days and nights in tears ; and finally, at three o'clock 
in the morning of March 4, 1603, she passed away in 
still unconsciousness. 



% 



1. Tlie Elizabethan period may be said to ex- 

tpnd from 1588 to 1(;25. 

2. Spenser, born 15.'.:!, diod 1599. 

3. Shakesp2are, bom ir>M, died Kiltj. 

4. Bacon, born lofil, died 102<i 

5. Hooker, born 155:*, died ItidO. 

G. From "Hamlet," act iii., scene 3. 

7. From Portia's famous speech in the Trial 

Scene of "The Merchant of Venice. 

8. Aristotle was born in 384 B.C. in Macedonia. 

9. Britain is now the first naval power in tlie 

world. 



10. Hakluyt, L".3-lfilfi. Spenser, Hooker, and 

H;iklnyt were born in the same year. 

1 1. Davis Straits, between Greenland andCiim- 

l)erland Islaml. 

12 The book is called ' The World's Hydro- 
graphical Description,' which long name 
simply means ' The Description of the Seas 
and Oceans of the Earth. 

13. Froia Spenser's ' Fairy Queen,' book il, n- 
troductory stanzas. 



^^I^es^f^^ 



THE ELIZABETHAN PERIOD. 



25i; 




A STREET IN LONDON IN THE TIME OF ELIZABETH. 



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